Orbitz back to the market

Wednesday, 15 May, 2007 0

Orbitz Worldwide Inc., the online travel Web site owned by Blackstone Group LP, has filed to raise as much as $750 million in its second initial public offering in less than four years.

Orbitz is part of Travelport Ltd., which was bought by buyout firm Blackstone in August for $4.3 billion from the former Cendant Corp.

“Blackstone and Technology Crossover Ventures, which jointly own Travelport, are seeking to capitalize on a surge in global bookings that has propelled Priceline.com Inc. and Expedia Inc. to double-digit stock gains this year,” reported Bloomberg News.

All proceeds from the sale will go to Travelport, which will use the money to repay debt, some of it loaned by underwriters of the IPO, Orbitz said in the filing. At the time of the offering, Orbitz also will borrow an undisclosed sum to repay Travelport.

The online owner and operator of brands such as CheapTickets and RatesToGo had a net loss of $146 million for the year ended Dec. 31, narrower than its loss of $388 million in 2005.

Orbitz was originally taken public by its five U.S. airline owners in December of 2003, raising $316.7 million. The carriers were United Airlines, American Airlines, Continental Airlines, Delta Air Lines and Northwest Airlines. At the time, the company was valued at about $1 billion.

In November 2004, Cendant, which is now Avis Budget Group Inc., bought the firm for $1.25 billion to sell more online travel packages.

Shares of Expedia, the world’s largest online travel agency, have climbed 16% this year. Priceline’s stock has gained 30%, according to Bloomberg.

The Chicago-based company did not disclose the number of shares to be sold or the price range in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Report by David Wilkening

David

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