Blackstone’s Travelport raises $480m

Ellie Pullen
26 September 2014

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Blackstone portfolio company Travelport Worldwide has raised $480m in its IPO on the New York Stock Exchange, giving it a market cap of $1.9bn.

The company sold 30 million shares at a price of $16 apiece. An additional 4.5 million shares have been offered to the underwriters as an overallotment option, meaning a further $72m could be raised.

The company listed yesterday (25 September) on the NYSE under the ticker "TVPT". Morgan Stanley, UBS, Credit Suisse and Deutsche Bank Securities acted as joint bookrunners for the flotation. Cowen & Company, Evercore, Jefferies, Sandford C Bernstein and William Blair were appointed co-managers.

Originally based in Atlanta, Georgia, in the US but now headquartered in Langley, Travelport claims to have a presence in 170 countries. The company generated revenues of $2.1bn in 2013. It employs 3,400 full-time staff and a further 1,100 in majority-owned subsidiaries.

Blackstone acquired Travelport in June 2006, buying it from NYSE-listed Cendant Corporation. Travelport was Cendant's travel distribution services subsidiary. Blackstone paid $4.3bn in cash for the asset.

In December of the same year, travel technology service provider Worldspan was merged with Travelport to become a subsidiary of the latter company. The deal valued Worldspan at $1.4bn.