IN A stunning success for Scotland’s high-tech industries, Edinburgh-based Skyscanner has been bought by leading Chinese online travel agent Ctrip for £1.4 billion.

The online travel-search firm founded in 2003 becomes the first Scottish so-called "unicorn" to be bought for more than the magical £1bn figure.

There were fears yesterday Chancellor Philip Hammond’s vow in his autumn statement to protect UK firms from foreign takeovers might stymie the deal, but given that Skyscanner’s UK operations will continue, it is hard to see what objection may be raised.

Ctrip is a leading provider of accommodation reservations, transportation ticketing, packaged tours and corporate travel management in China.

It was announced yesterday morning that they had signed an agreement with the majority shareholders of Skyscanner Holdings Limited, under which Ctrip will acquire all of their shares and will offer to acquire more from the remaining shareholders.

According to a statement from Skyscanner, the terms of the acquisition value Skyscanner at approximately £1.4bn. The statement added: “The boards of directors of the Company and Skyscanner have approved the transaction, which is subject to customary closing conditions, and is expected to close by the end of 2016. Skyscanner’s current management team will continue to manage Skyscanner’s operations independently as part of the Ctrip group.

James Jianzhang Liang, co-founder and executive chair of Ctrip, said: “Skyscanner is one of the largest travel search platforms in the world. Ctrip and Skyscanner share the same passion and dedication in providing travellers around the world with better services. This acquisition will strengthen long-term growth drivers for both companies.

“Skyscanner will complement our positioning at a global scale and Ctrip will leverage our experience, technology and booking capabilities to Skyscanner’s.”

In the 13 years since it was founded after current chief executive Gareth Williams became frustrated with trying to find the cheapest flight deals, Skyscanner has expanded through several equity investments and now has 10 offices around the world, including in the USA and China, though its headquarters remain in Edinburgh.

It has 700 employees, 60 million users a month and growing, and reports annual income of more than £100m.

In January it raised £128m in venture capital and it was known that the company would either go to the market in an initial public offering (IPO) or be sold outright.

At the time the investment valued the company at £1.6bn, so Ctrip would appear to have gained a good deal – sending their shares up nine per cent.

The firm’s founders and investors are delighted, as the management team will remain in place and the head office will stay in Edinburgh.

Largest shareholder Scottish Equity Partners will also reap the reward of an initial 2007 investment of £2.5m which sparked Skyscanner’s phenomenal growth.

Gareth Williams said: “Organising travel has a long way to go to being solved. To do so requires powerful technology and a traveller-first approach.

"Skyscanner will remain operationally independent and our growing global team will continue to innovate and deliver the products travellers know and love.”