BRUSSELS (Sept 25): Booking Holdings will challenge an EU antitrust veto against its €1.63 billion (RM7.9 billion) purchase of Swedish peer ETraveli Group, the US online travel agency said on Monday.

The European Commission had earlier on Monday blocked the deal, saying the company's remedies were not sufficient to address regulatory concerns about the deal that would have strengthened its market power.

"The company strongly believes the Commission is wrong on both the facts of the case and the law applicable to this transaction, which was cleared unconditionally by multiple competition authorities, including the UK Competition & Markets Authority and US FTC," Booking said in a statement.

The company also announced the extension of its flight agreement with ETraveli to 2028.