(Reuters) -Dutch technology investor Prosus (OTC:PROSF) NV said on Monday it would buy Latin America-focused online travel agency Despegar (NYSE:DESP).com Corp for about $1.7 billion in cash, as it looks to expand its services across Latin America.
Prosus, majority-owned by South Africa’s Naspers, said it would pay $19.50 per Despegar share, which is a premium of about 33% to the stock’s closing price on Friday.
Despegar.com’s shares jumped about 32% in premarket trading.
Prosus said it plans to create synergies between Despegar, which operates in more than 19 Latin American markets, and its other regional businesses such as food delivery platform iFood and events platform Sympla.
E-commerce is one of Amsterdam-listed Prosus’ main areas of investments. It has a portfolio that includes food delivery firm Delivery Hero, online marketplaces such as OLX, educational software firms such as SkillSoft and Stack Overflow, and payments companies such as India-focused PayU.
Founded in Argentina in 1999, Despegar is one of Latin America’s largest online tourism platforms and has been affected by high inflation in Argentina and currency depreciation against the U.S. dollar in key markets Brazil and Mexico.
The deal is expected to close in the second quarter of 2025.