SABRE, Worldspan, Expedia all making the news<< Fake reviews - hype or hindrance | Main | Airline mergers and increasing fares >> Diane Clarkson | December 11, 2006, 04:17 PM After been overseas for the last couple of weeks, I returned today to find travel news headlines reading one Big Story to the next… Expedia said Friday that it will repurchase as many as 30 million shares in a tender offer, sending its stock up the most since its IPO in July 2005 Travelport, owned by private equity firm Blackstone Group who also own Orbitz and CheapTickets, agreed to purchase Worldspan for $1.4 billion in cash to acquire technology and new customers. This is a good strategic move for Travelport’s overall distribution potential, particularly given the growing sales to airline websites directly. Worldspan provides electronic ticketing for travel agencies and runs the reservation systems for airlines including Delta Air Lines Inc. and Northwest Airlines Corp. The deal is expected to be complete in mid-2007. And SABRE is in advanced talks to be sold to a consortium of private equity firms for more than $4 billion. Terms of the deal haven’t been disclosed, but you can be sure the industry will be watching this story closely. Wow. A lot of excitement for a first Monday back… |
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