SpotHero Acquires Leading Competitor Parking Panda

Chicago-based SpotHero, the nation’s leading parking reservation service, announced today that it has acquired Parking Panda, the leader in event parking reservations in the United States and Canada. This move firmly positions SpotHero as the category leader across all major off-street parking verticals, including daily, monthly, business, event, and airport parking. On track to park 20 million cars in 2017 and offering nearly 5,000 parking locations across North America, SpotHero is a driving force in the parking industry's evolution as it embraces technology and focuses increasingly on customer experience.

“We’re thrilled to combine forces with Parking Panda to bring easy parking to more drivers faster,” said Mark Lawrence, co-founder and CEO, SpotHero. “We’ve long admired Parking Panda’s talented team and ability to drive product innovation. SpotHero’s consumer focus and great mobile experience are further strengthened by Parking Panda’s strong B2B technology and partnerships.”

Prior to the acquisition, Parking Panda established over 800 strategic partnerships, including event parking partnerships with numerous NHL, NFL, MLB, and NBA teams, as well as major convention centers, sports arenas, theaters, and municipalities. In 2016, the company leveraged this strength in partnerships and event parking to enter the Canadian market, quickly achieving scale. SpotHero will leverage Parking Panda's momentum in Canada to continue building holistic mobility solutions for drivers and parking companies in 47 major cities across North America. With what is already the largest network of connected garages in the United States and the broadest base of mobile-first consumers, SpotHero is positioned to replicate this success in Canada.

SpotHero also will accelerate its aggressive B2B product roadmap with the integration of Parking Panda’s robust suite of tools and technology, including unique SaaS offerings designed for the parking industry. For consumers, the expanded engineering team will mean rapid innovation to SpotHero’s award-winning platform with a heavy focus on driver convenience.

“This is the most natural progression for our company,” said Parking Panda CEO Adam Zilberbaum. “By joining forces, we will have a greater impact on the transportation landscape, making parking more convenient through technology. We’ve long held values similar to those of SpotHero, including putting drivers first, investing in our people, and building great products.”

SpotHero’s Co-founder and CEO Mark Lawrence will continue to serve as CEO, and Parking Panda’s leadership team of CEO and Founder Adam Zilberbaum and COO James Bain will remain with the company.

About SpotHero

SpotHero, the nation’s leading parking reservation service, empowers drivers with easy parking at thousands of garages, lots, and valets in major cities across the U.S. Launched in 2011, SpotHero has parked more than seven million cars. The company is headquartered in Chicago and has raised $27 million in VC funding.

Notably, in 2017 SpotHero launched SpotHero for Business, the first in-app solution to offer businesses and their employees tools to manage parking expenses and provide increased visibility. Also this year, SpotHero launched its Parking Developer Platform, enabling select websites, apps and connected or autonomous vehicle manufacturers to extend parking reservation functionality to their native interfaces. To learn more, visit www.spothero.com.

Orbitz to be sold to Expedia for $1.6 billion

Chicago-based online travel company Orbitz Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE: OWW) will be purchased by Expedia, Inc. (NASDAQ: EXPE), according to a news release issued today by Expedia. Expedia, announced it has entered into a definitive agreement under which it will acquire Orbitz Worldwide, , including all of Orbitz Worldwide's brands, for $12.00 per share in cash, representing an enterprise value of approximately $1.6 billion, and a premium of approximately 29% over the volume weighted average share price for the five trading days up to and including February 11, 2015.

The Boards of Directors of both companies have approved the transaction, which is subject to approval by the shareholders of a majority of Orbitz Worldwide's common stock and other customary closing conditions, including applicable regulatory approvals. The Board of Directors of Orbitz Worldwide received a fairness opinion from Qatalyst Partners and has recommended that its stockholders vote in favor of the merger.

"We are attracted to the Orbitz Worldwide business because of its strong brands and impressive team. This acquisition will allow us to deliver best-in-class experiences to an even wider set of travelers all over the world," said Dara Khosrowshahi, President and Chief Executive Officer, Expedia, Inc. "From the flagship Orbitz.com brand, to other well-known consumer brands such as CheapTickets, ebookers and HotelClub and the business-to-business brands Orbitz Partner Network and Orbitz for Business, the Orbitz Worldwide team has built a devoted customer base and we look forward to welcoming them to the Expedia, Inc. family."

"Our mission at Orbitz Worldwide has been to build our brands to be the world's most rewarding places to plan and purchase travel," said Barney Harford, Chief Executive Officer, Orbitz Worldwide. "We're excited for Orbitz Worldwide to join the Expedia, Inc. family and for our teams to work together to further enhance the offerings we provide to our customers and partners."

Expedia, Inc. (NASDAQ: EXPE) is one of the world's largest travel companies, with an extensive brand portfolio that includes leading online travel brands, such as:

• Expedia.com®, the world's largest full service online travel agency with localized sites in 31 countries
• Hotels.com®, the hotel specialist with localized sites in more than 60 countries
• Hotwire®, a leading discount travel site that offers opaque deals in 12 countries throughoutNorth America, Europe and Asia
• Travelocity®, a pioneer in online travel and a leading online travel agency in the US and Canada
• Egencia®, the world's fifth largest corporate travel management company
• eLong™, a leading mobile and online travel service provider in China
• Venere.com™, an online hotel reservation specialist in Europe
• trivago®, a leading online hotel metasearch company with sites in 49 countries
• Wotif Group, a leading operator of travel brands in the Asia-Pacific region, including Wotif.com®, lastminute.com.au®, travel.com.au, Asia Web Direct®, LateStays.com, GoDo.com.au and Arnold Travel Technology
• Expedia Local Expert®, a provider of online and in-market concierge services, activities, experiences and ground transportation in hundreds of destinations worldwide
• Classic Vacations®, a top luxury travel specialist
• Expedia® CruiseShipCenters®, a provider of exceptional value and expert advice for travelers booking cruises and vacations through its network of 180 franchise locations across North America
• CarRentals.com™, the premier car rental booking company on the web

The company delivers consumers value in leisure and business travel, drives incremental demand and direct bookings to travel suppliers, and provides advertisers the opportunity to reach a highly valuable audience of in-market consumers through Expedia® Media Solutions. Expedia also powers bookings for some of the world's leading airlines and hotels, top consumer brands, high traffic websites, and thousands of active affiliates through Expedia® Affiliate Network. For corporate and industry news and views, visit us at www.expediainc.com or follow us on Twitter @expediainc.

Orbitz Worldwide (NYSE: OWW) is a leading global online travel company using technology to transform the way consumers around the world plan and purchase travel. Orbitz Worldwide operates the consumer travel planning sites Orbitz (orbitz.com), ebookers (ebookers.com), HotelClub (hotelclub.com) and CheapTickets (cheaptickets.com). Also within the Orbitz Worldwide family, Orbitz Partner Network (orbitzpartnernetwork.com) delivers private label travel technology solutions to a broad range of partners including some of the world`s largest airlines, bank loyalty programs and travel agencies, and Orbitz for Business (orbitzforbusiness.com) delivers managed travel solutions for companies of all sizes. Orbitz Worldwide makes investor relations information available at investors.orbitz.com.

Groupon IPO Raises $700 Million

Chicago-based Groupon Inc. has priced its much-awaited initial public offering at $20 per share, according to a regulatory filing made late Thursday, the Chicago Tribune reports. That price is higher than Groupon's expected price range of $16 to $18 a share. The company also increased the number of shares in the offering by 5 million shares to 35 million, representing 5.5% of the company, and raising $700 million. At the reported new price, the value of the entire company would be $12.76 billion.

Read the full story in the Chicago Tribune.