Investors in Uber and Expedia seem to think a merger of the two, talks over which were reported by the Financial Times this week, is unlikely for now. Yet there is much to recommend a combination. Each aims to get customers from A to B. Teaming up could get them further — if only to C.

A tie-up would be a family reunion of sorts. Dara Khosrowshahi, hired to be Uber’s presiding adult in 2017 after co-founder Travis Kalanick resigned, previously ran the $20bn travel website. Expedia’s chair and largest individual shareholder Barry Diller is his mentor. The melding of cultures — often a source of friction — might be almost harmonious.

Uber at a market value of $170bn can afford to take the risk. Imagine Khosrowshahi offered about $26bn to clinch a deal. He would only have to increase Expedia’s forecast free cash flow for 2026 by $1.6bn — little more than 10 per cent of the two companies’ combined sales and marketing expenses — to make a handsome 15 per cent return on investment, based on LSEG estimates.