BEIJING, Dec. 31, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- eLong, Inc.
(NASDAQ: LONG), released the following update on its legal dispute
with Qunar:
On December 26, 2014, the Beijing
First Intermediate Court (the "Court") issued its written judgment
(the "Judgment") in the contract dispute between an eLong
subsidiary, eLongNet Information Technology (Beijing) Co., Ltd. ("eLong Information"), and
an affiliate of Qunar, Beijing Quna Software Technology Co. Ltd.
("Beijing Qunar"). eLong Information had filed the case in 2013
after Beijing Qunar improperly terminated a three-year hotel
inventory redistribution agreement (as amended, the "Affiliation
Agreement") entered into by eLong Information and Beijing
Qunar.
In the Judgment:
- The Court held Beijing Qunar in breach of contract for early
termination of the Affiliation Agreement. Specifically, the Court
rejected Beijing Qunar's claim that eLong Information had breached
the Affiliation Agreement and held that Beijing Qunar's termination
notice was therefore void.
- The Court ordered Beijing Qunar and eLong Information to resume
PRC domestic agency hotel inventory cooperation under the terms of
the Affiliation Agreement.
- The Court ordered Beijing Qunar to compensate eLong Information
RMB 52,335,396 (USD 8.5 million) for the period from September 6, 2013 through September 30, 2014, and, as stipulated in the
Affiliation Agreement, to pay such compensation as an advertising
credit to eLong Information's advertising account at Qunar.
- The Court further ordered Beijing Qunar to pay eLong
Information an advertising credit of RMB
27 per room night if Beijing Qunar fails to meet the room
night target of 450,000 PRC domestic hotel room nights per quarter
under the Affiliation Agreement for any quarterly periods from
October 1, 2014 through June 30, 2016.
- The Court ordered eLong Information to pay RMB 8,127,402 (approximately USD 1.3 million) in commissions to Beijing Qunar
for room nights sold under the Affiliation Agreement during the
period from July 1, 2013 through
September 5, 2013, prior to Beijing
Qunar's breach of contract.
- The Court also ordered Beijing Qunar to pay eLong Information
RMB227,599 (USD 37 thousand) in legal fees, and apportioned
court fees between the parties.
Either or both parties may appeal the Court's Judgment to the
Beijing Municipal High Court within 15 days from the date of
receipt of the Judgment, and the Judgment is not binding prior to
the conclusion of any such appeal.
We will continue to take all necessary and appropriate actions
to protect our rights and interests under law and contract.
Safe Harbor Statement
Statements in this press release concerning eLong's future
business, operating results and financial condition are
"forward-looking" statements within the meaning of Section 27A of
the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, Section 21E of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and as defined in the
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as
"anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "expect," "forecast,"
"intend," "may," "plan," "project," "predict," "future," "is/are
likely to," "should" and "will" and similar expressions as they
relate to eLong are intended to identify such forward-looking
statements, but are not the exclusive means of doing so. These
forward-looking statements are based upon management's current
views and expectations with respect to future events and are not a
guarantee of future performance. Forward-looking statements
include, but are not limited to, statements about our anticipated
growth strategies, our future business development, results of
operations and financial condition, our ability to control costs,
limit losses and/or return to profitability, our ability to attract
customers and leverage our brand, and trends and competition in the
travel industry in China and
globally. Furthermore, these statements are, by their nature,
subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause our
actual performance and results to differ materially from those
discussed in the forward-looking statements. Factors that could
affect our actual results and cause our actual results to differ
materially from those referred in any forward-looking statement
include, but are not limited to, declines or disruptions in the
travel industry, international financial, political or economic
crises, a slowdown in the PRC economy, an outbreak of bird flu or
other disease, eLong's reliance on maintaining good relationships
with, and stable air and hotel inventory from, hotel suppliers and
airline ticket suppliers, and on establishing new relationships
with suppliers on similar terms, our reliance on the TravelSky GDS
system for our air business, Baidu (and its subsidiary Qunar) and
Qihoo for our search engine marketing, our reliance on maintaining
commercial cooperation with online hotel inventory distribution
partners, the risk that eLong will not be able to increase its
brand recognition, the possibility that eLong will be unable to
continue timely compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act or other
regulatory requirements, the risk that eLong will not be successful
in competing against new and existing competitors, the risk that
our infrastructure and technology are damaged, fail or become
obsolete, risks associated with Expedia, Inc.'s (Nasdaq: EXPE)
majority ownership interest and Tencent's shareholding in eLong,
risks relating to eLong's investments in, and acquisitions of,
other businesses and assets, fluctuations in the value of the
Renminbi, inflation in China,
changes in eLong's management team and other personnel, risks
relating to uncertainties in the PRC legal system, including but
not limited to, risks relating to our affiliated Chinese operating
entities, risks and uncertainties relating to litigation and
arbitration in China, risks
relating to the application of preferential tax policies, the risk
that eLong will continue to incur losses, and other risks mentioned
in eLong's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange
Commission, including eLong's Annual Report on Form 20-F.
If one or more of these risks or uncertainties occur, or if our
underlying assumptions prove to be incorrect, actual events or
results may vary significantly from those implied or projected by
the forward looking-statements. Investors should not rely upon
forward-looking statements as predictions of future events. Except
as required by law, we undertake no obligation to update or revise
publicly any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new
information, future events or otherwise. All forward-looking
statements contained in this press release are qualified by
reference to this cautionary statement.
About eLong, Inc.
eLong, Inc. (Nasdaq: LONG - News) is a leader in mobile and
online accomodations reservations in China offering consumers a network of more
than 365,000 properties worldwide. eLong technology enables
travelers to book hotels, guesthouses, apartments and other
accommodations, as well as air and train tickets, through
convenient mobile and tablet applications (m.eLong.com), websites
(www.eLong.com), 24 hour customer service, and easy to use tools
such as destination guides, maps and user reviews. eLong's largest
shareholders are Expedia, Inc. (Nasdaq: EXPE) and Tencent Holdings Ltd. (HKSE: 0700).
For further information, please contact:
eLong, Inc.
Investor Relations
ir@corp.elong.com
+86-10-6436-7570
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SOURCE eLong, Inc.