Prosus’ $1.7 billion all-cash acquisition of Despegar underscores how decisively the Dutch technology investor has made Latin America central to its global growth strategy.
Announced in December 2024 and completed in May 2025, the deal saw Prosus acquire 100% of Despegar, Latin America’s leading online travel agency, at $19.50 per share. The price represented a premium of roughly 34% to Despegar’s 90-day volume-weighted average trading price, valuing the company at an enterprise value of $1.7 billion and marking one of the largest online travel agency M&A transactions ever executed by a financial sponsor.
The acquisition, which wins the award for Private Equity Deal of the Year, was structured as a straightforward, all-cash merger, reflecting Prosus’ strong balance sheet and ability to deploy capital quickly at scale. Upon closing, Despegar was taken private and delisted from public markets, allowing the business to operate outside the constraints of quarterly reporting as it integrates more deeply into Prosus’ regional ecosystem.
For Prosus, the transaction builds on more than a decade of investment across Latin America and adds a profitable, scaled consumer platform to a portfolio that already includes iFood, OLX Brazil and Sympla. The strategic logic rests not only on Despegar’s leadership position in online travel, but also on the ability to drive cross-platform synergies across Prosus’ lifestyle ecommerce assets.
“Our strategy is to build the number one lifestyle ecommerce ecosystems in Latin America, Europe and India,” says Paul Yanitsky, managing director of Investments and M&A at Prosus. “We already have a significant presence in Latin America, and we are growing quickly with big consumer brands. Despegar adds growth plus profitability and additional strength to our ecosystem in the region.”
Those synergies are already visible. More than 7% of Despegar’s net revenue in Brazil is generated through iFood, illustrating how Prosus’ platforms can reinforce each other by sharing traffic, data and customer relationships. With more than 100 million customers served across its Latin American portfolio, Prosus sees meaningful scope to deepen engagement, expand services and unlock new revenue streams.
The transaction also positions Despegar to benefit from Prosus’ broader technological capabilities, including its expertise in artificial intelligence, which is expected to support product development, personalization and operational efficiency across the travel platform. As consumer demand for digital travel services rebounds across the region, Prosus is betting that scale, data and ecosystem integration will prove decisive.
“We are a fast-growing and profitable global technology company which is very well capitalized,” Yanitsky says. “This allows us to act quickly when we see opportunity, which is exactly what we did with Despegar.”
Goldman Sachs acted as financial adviser on the transaction. The deal’s clean execution, compelling strategic rationale and scale set it apart in a year when private equity activity across Latin America remained selective and highly competitive.
By combining disciplined pricing, rapid execution and a long-term regional vision, Prosus’ acquisition of Despegar highlights how global technology investors are reshaping Latin America’s consumer economy.
Prosus Acquisition of Despegar
Financial Advisor to Prosus: Morgan Stanley
Financial Advisor to Transaction Committee: Goldman Sachs
Counsel to Prosus: Davis Polk
Counsel to Despegar: A&O Shearman