Permira and Axa Private Equity plan to make a joint €500m ($681m) bid for Opodo on Tuesday, as they seek to build a European champion in the internet travel market to challenge Expedia and Orbitz of the US.
The two private equity groups are expected to face competition for Opodo from their US rival Carlyle, which owns Orizonia, the Spanish tour operator. But several people familiar with the auction said Permira and Axa were favourites.
Until they teamed up to bid for Opodo, Permira and Axa had been competing head-to-head to acquire mid-sized European internet travel agencies.
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