Booking’s €1.6 Billion Etraveli Deal Blocked by EU Watchdogs (1)

Booking Holdings Inc.’s €1.6 billion ($1.7 billion) takeover of Sweden’s Etraveli Group was blocked by the European Union, after merger regulators concluded that the proposed acquisition would harm the market for online travel agencies.

The European Commission said on Monday that the deal would have strengthened Booking’s dominant position and risked “higher costs for hotels and, possibly, consumers.”

The veto “means that European hotels and travelers will not be further limited in the options available to offer their services and book their trips,” Didier Reynders, the EU’s interim commissioner for competition, said in an emailed statement. “This ...