Expands European car rental market presence by adding more than 20 websites and additional choices for consumers

Expedia, Inc. acquired Auto Escape Group, one of Europe's leading online car rental reservation companies from private equity fund Montefiore Investment and certain members of the AutoEscape Group's management team.

Auto Escape Group will become a part of the CarRentals.com  brand and report into Henrik Kjellberg, President of the Hotwire  Group.

"We are excited to expand our CarRentals.com brand internationally so that we can provide our customers more choices across the globe and help our supply partners expand their marketing reach," said Henrik Kjellberg, President of the Hotwire Group.