Mobile app development company Distinction is the subject of an acquisition by travel publisher Skyscanner.
The 30-strong team of designers and developers will be integrated with Skyscanner’s own in-house mobile team as the travel comparison site looks to take full advantage of Distinction’s iOS, Android and Windows app development experience.
Distinction’s Budapest office, where the existing team is to be based, will become Skyscanner’s main mobile hub. There are however plans to create even more roles to maintain the company’s global mobile momentum.
A mobile focus
The purchase represents big news for Skyscanner, which started life as a screen scraper but has recently made moves into car hire and hotels. It also follows the launch of Lodgeo, a mobile-first price comparison and booking app for travel.
Skyscanner has worked with Distinction before to build its hotel app that launched in August and Gareth Williams, Skyscanner’s co-founder and CEO, was full of praise for the company’s end product.
“The team at Distinction, led by Bálint Orosz and Akos Kapui, are some of the best app developers that I’ve ever come across. In working closely with them on the design of our hotel app, we saw how focused they were on the user experience,” he said.
Details of the acquisition were not disclosed by Skyscanner or Distinction.