Chinese giant snaps up travel search firm Skyscanner for £1.4bn

UK travel search website Skyscanner is being snapped up by China's Ctrip.com in a £1.4bn deal.

It marks the latest swoop by a Chinese company for a British firm.

Edinburgh-based Skyscanner, launched in 2003, allows users to compare prices from travel sites when searching for flights, hotels and rental cars.

It is now available in more than 30 languages and has around 60 million monthly users.

The company employs more than 800 staff with ten offices worldwide including in Barcelona, Beijing, Budapest, Glasgow and London.

Ctrip.com, which is China's biggest online travel service, said the management of Skyscanner would remain in place and run the company independently.

Skyscanner chief executive and co-founder Gareth Williams said the deal took his firm "one step closer to our goal of making travel search as simple as possible for travellers around the world".

Ctrip expects to complete the takeover by the end of the year.

Chinese companies have an increasing foothold in the UK, with department store House of Fraser bought by Sanpower in 2014.

Meanwhile last year the Fosun conglomerate bought a stake in travel operator Thomas Cook (Frankfurt: A0MR3W - news) .

Elsewhere, China is a major investor in the new nuclear plant to be built at Hinkley Point while Chinese investors are reportedly among those eyeing a majority stake in National Grid (LSE: NG.L - news) 's gas distribution network.

In the tech sector, Oscar-winning UK visual effects company Framestore - behind Gravity and the Harry Potter films - was sold earlier this month to China's Cultural Investment Holdings in a deal valuing it £150m.

China's second-largest property developer Evergrande (HKSE: 3333-OL.HK - news) is in talks to buy British house builder Cala (Other OTC: CCAA - news) .