Travelport to Sell Orbitz Shares
by Michele McDonaldTravelport plans to sell the majority of its stake in Orbitz Worldwide for about $280 million before expenses.
In May the company said it would sell 7.5 million of its 39.8 million Orbitz shares.
But in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), it said it has entered into an underwriting agreement to sell 34 million shares of the company’s common stock.
The underwriters have a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 5 million shares.
Orbitz Worldwide will not receive any proceeds from the offering.
The sale is expected to close July 22.
Travelport IPO
Travelport filed a registration statement in June with the SEC for an initial public offering. It has not yet announced a date for the offering.
Orbitz, Travelport’s largest customer for GDS services, has been subject to certain exclusivity provisions with Travelport since its own IPO in 2007.
That agreement expires at the end of the year. Orbitz already has signed distribution agreements with Amadeus and Sabre that take effect at the beginning of 2015.
