Lastminute.com

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The correct title of this article is lastminute.com. The initial letter is shown capitalized due to technical restrictions.

lastminute.com share price (March 14, 2000 through March 14, 2001)

lastminute.com plc is an online travel agency and e-tailer founded by Martha Lane Fox and Brent Hoberman in 1998 which became iconic of the UK dot-com boom in the late 1990s. Lane Fox has since left the company. Its headquarters are at 39 Victoria Street, London. It is publicly traded on the London Stock Exchange under the symbol LMC.

On May 12, 2005 it was announced that lastminute.com had agreed to a £577 million takeover bid from Sabre Holdings, owner of the Travelocity online travel business.

Famous for its tradings of Holiday Packages and Flights lastminute.com has moved on to become an e-tailer in Car Hire, Unusual Gifts , Experiences, Theatre tickets, Restaurant Bookings and Nights Out. The website is UK based and therefore its information and sales are aimed towards users from the UK; however it does have more than 20 other international websites.

More recently lastminute.com has acquired smaller holiday website holdings as it ever increases its holiday specialisation empire. Websites such as www.medhotels.com, www.onlinetravel.com , holidayautos.com, travel4less.com, ferrybooker.com, ifyouski.com and deckchair.com fall under the lastminute.com Brand specialising in areas that are not focussed with last-minute deals but with holidays for specific users who may prefer to go sky-diving than go to the Bahamas.

In July 2005, lastminute.com was acquired by Sabre Holdings, owner of former rival Travelocity.

Brent Hoberman, former CEO of lastminute.com now heads up a new larger organization, reporting to Michelle Peluso, president and CEO of Travelocity. Damon Tassone, previously president of Travelocity Europe, reports to Hoberman as Deputy CEO of the combined business while lastminute.com's former COO Ian McCaig has expanded his role to become Group Managing Director for the company.

With the closing of the acquisition, lastminute.com is now the lead brand for Travelocity in most of Europe, and is expected to continue expanding. Travelocity will continue to support multiple brands where it makes sense, with the intent of sharing underlying infrastructure, technology, and supply to drive cost savings.