By Lisa Beilfuss 

Priceline Group Inc. on Tuesday said it would increase its investment in Ctrip.com International Ltd., as the online travel company seeks a larger footprint in the world's largest outbound-travel market.

Priceline said it would invest $250 million in Ctrip through a convertible bond after making a similar $500 million investment last summer. Assuming conversion of the two bonds, Priceline will own about 10.5% of Ctrip's shares outstanding.

Shanghai-based Ctrip also granted Priceline permission to increase its stake to 15% by acquiring Ctrip's American depositary shares in the open market.

"Ctrip continues to be a very important partner for The Priceline Group in China, and we look forward to continuing to build upon that partnership," said Priceline Chief Executive Darren Huston. "We consider Ctrip a market leader in China and we're investing in a company and a team that we believe fits well with our long-term view of China as a market and the Chinese people as global travelers."

Under the existing commercial partnership, Priceline's Booking.com hotel-booking site advertises Ctrip's inventory of hotels in China. Ctrip, meanwhile, is able to offer its users a wider array of deals from Priceline's platforms, including Booking.com, Agoda.com for smaller hotels, OpenTable for restaurants and rentalcars.com. The companies on Tuesday said they would continue cross-promotion between brands.

Last week, Expedia Inc. sold its 62.4% majority stake in Chinese mobile and online travel service eLong Inc. to a group of buyers that included Ctrip, which said it took a 37.6% stake in eLong for about $400 million. Growing losses at eLong had weighed on profits at Expedia, which is awaiting regulatory approval of its $1.3 billion tie-up with fellow online travel booker Orbitz Worldwide Inc.

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