BEIJING, May 21, 2009 (Xinhua News Agency) -- China's leading online travel agent, Ctrip.com International, Ltd. (NASDAQ:CTRP) (CTRP.NASDAQ), announced Thursday to have completed the purchase of 7.51 million shares newly issued by Home Inns (HMIN.NASAQ).

Ctrip paid 50 million U.S. dollars for the purchase, priced at 6.6538 dollars per share.

After the share purchase, Ctrip will add a 9.92 percent stake in Home Inns to bring its total stake to 18.25 percent.

Ctrip posted a net profit of 121 million yuan in the first quarter, up 23 percent year on year. Net operating revenue for the company totaled 401 million yuan in the period.

Statistics with iResearch show that Ctrip now accounts for 58.2 percent of China's domestic online travel service market share.