Travel industry aggregator Travelport has announced it is offering 30 million shares in its upcoming IPO which, at the expected pricing, will raise up to $480 million.
Travelport, which links airlines and hotel chains with travel agencies and other ticket buyers, currently competes with travel distributors such as Abacus and Amadeus, and business travel booking sites such as eTravel and Egencia. Travelport also owns 37% of online travel agency Orbitz Worldwide.
Blackstone and Technology Crossover Ventures (TCV) bought the company for US$4.3 billion from conglomerate Cendant in 2006. Blackstone's stake in Travelport will fall to 7.16% after the IPO, from its current stake of 9.54%.
Travelport initially scrapped its plans to list in London in 2010, citing poor market conditions, and the company said it intended to use the proceeds from the IPO to repay debt, which it reported was around $3.4bn as of March 31st. Travelport's net loss widened to $27 million in the three months ended March 31st, from $22 million a year earlier. Net revenue rose 4% to $572 million in the period.
Travelport intends to list its common stock under the symbol "TVPT" on the New York Stock Exchange. Morgan Stanley and UBS Securities are the lead underwriters of the offering.