USA Networks Buys Stake in TravelNow.com

USA Networks Inc. took a 9.9% stake in online travel agent TravelNow.com Inc. and signaled that its subsidiary is considering acquiring the Internet company.

USA Networks, a New York-based media company, and its subsidiary, Hotel Reservations Network Inc., reported to the Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday that they purchased 1.1 million shares in the Internet company for about $3.2 million. HRN is a profitable broker of hotel rooms, primarily over the Internet.

HRN holds its interest in TravelNow as a “strategic investment,” the filing said. The company entered into a confidentiality agreement with TravelNow on Dec. 20 in which the Internet start-up agreed to hand over information on its business and assets. HRN is considering the acquisition of “all or substantially all of the outstanding TravelNow common stock,” the filing said.

Launched in 1995, Springfield, Mo.-based TravelNow was one of the first real-time hotel reservation services on the Internet.