Are Priceline and Expedia Fighting for a Deal With This Company?

In this segment from Market Foolery, the team considers the potential for one of the major online travel agencies to pursue an acquisition ofTripAdvisor (NASDAQ: TRIP)now that shares trade at their lowest levels in years. The value of such a deal is undeniable.

A full transcript follows the video.

10 stocks we like better than TripAdvisorWhen investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.*

David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy right now... and TripAdvisor wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys.

More From Fool.com

Motley Fool Founders Issue New Stock Buy Alert

Forget GE! Heres how to play the largest growth opportunity in history

Forget Apple! Heres a Better Stock to Buy

He Made 21,078% Buying Amazon. Heres His New Pick

Click here to learn about these picks!

*Stock Advisor returns as of February 6, 2017

This video was recorded on March 8, 2017.

Mac Greer:Gilly asks, what are the odds thatPriceline (NASDAQ: PCLN) andExpedia (NASDAQ: EXPE) are both callingTripAdvisorat the same time to discuss an acquisition? Matt?

Matt Argersinger:Ah, yeah, Gilly, I think with TripAdvisor at a five-year low, the odds are probably as good as they've ever been right now. And there's been rumors in recent years about an acquisition. I think the best fit is probably Priceline. One, it would really boost Priceline's share of U.S. travel customers. We know booking.com is their bigplatform. Super popular in Europe. Not so huge here in the U.S. So, it really boosts their marketing potential here in the U.S. TripAdvisor has 350 million unique visitors each month. That's a huge number. Something like almost 400 million reviews. Mac, I know that you're responsible for at least a dozen or so reviews.

Greer:I am. I get their emails, I'm one of their top-rated reviewers, at least in this ZIP code.

Ron Gross:Wow, we're here with royalty.

Greer:That's right.

Argersinger:So, there are a lot of eyeballs that Priceline can gain by buying TripAdvisor. And TripAdvisor has this growing activities business, which is getting some kind of scale. If you think about Priceline as mostly getting people to the destination, while TripAdvisor has things they can actually do when they get to the destination. So, it helps Priceline become more of a one-stop shop OTA. What I'll say though, in reality, I don't think Priceline will ever get the chance, because I think Expedia would be -- if TripAdvisor was compelling enough -- they would actually be the one to make the acquisition. And that's because there's a strong relationship between TripAdvisor and Expedia throughLiberty Interactive. And I'll explain that for those who don't know, and you kind of have to bear with me here. Barry Diller and John Malone,longtime friends, occasional business partners. Diller is Expedia's chairman. Liberty Interactive, which is controlled by John Malone, owns 16% of Expedia. Liberty Interactive, in turn, owns a controlling stake in TripAdvisor through its Liberty TripAdvisor tracking stock.

Gross:For those that are still with us --

Argersinger:It goes on. The CEO of Liberty Interactive, Greg Maffei, also happens to be the chairman of TripAdvisor.

Gross:Am I crazy, orwasn't TripAdvisor spun out of Expedia?

Argersinger:It was. It's not controlled by Expedia except to the extent that Liberty Interactive has a stakein Expedia and TripAdvisor.

Greer:At this point, I almost want to go back to the stock buyback discussion. [laughs]

Argersinger:I think, at today's price, an acquisition of TripAdvisor looks compelling to both. But I would say Expedia has, probably, the first dibs. Priceline would have to make a very compelling case and pay a pretty big premium.

Gross:AndPriceline is a much bigger company, $85 billion or so,versus Expedia at $18 billion,TripAdvisor now, as Matt said, only a $6 billioncompany in. So you could get this done with stock, or even low-cost debtif you wanted to. ButPriceline is more likely.

Greer:See,I like the Expedia angle because I like Priceline, I love the reviews,I contribute reviews and I post reviews,but I don't buy and I don't transact --I'm sorry, I just blew that. I love TripAdvisor. Icontribute reviews, I read reviews. But the problem for me andTripAdvisor is I don't transact through TripAdvisor. I find the hotel or the place I like,and then I go to Expedia,or I go to the hotel's website. If Expedia buys them, then it's that one-stop shop,I could book my flight on Expedia,I could book my hotel on Expedia,and I can read the reviews.

Argersinger:That's absolutely right, and that's the challenge. TripAdvisor is trying to move to that bookingplatform where you can do everything there.

Greer:Inertia, I'm not doing it.

Argersinger:[laughs] You're right. So,something like an Expedia acquisition accelerates that,and makes that redundant.

Mac Greer owns shares of TripAdvisor. Matthew Argersinger has no position in any stocks mentioned. Ron Gross has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Priceline Group and TripAdvisor. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.