Since TripAdvisor’s initial public offering, controlling interest has been held by Liberty Interactive. Last August, the shares with controlling interest were spun off into a company called Liberty TripAdvisor Holdings.
It holds 57% voting interest in TripAdvisor, though it only has a 22% stake in TripAdvisor’s shares.
In an analyst’s report, Oppenheimer wrote that it sees the spinoff as the “precursor to a potential takeout scenario or an eventual combination that enables TRIP to consolidate the voting control in a cash/stock deal.”
