January 24, 2007: Less than six months after leaving the public markets, the travel Web site Orbitz.com may be contemplating a return trip.
Orbitz’s parent company, Travelport, has hired the investment bank UBS to explore an initial public offering for the subsidiary, according to a person briefed on the plan.
Travelport hopes to hold an offering for Orbitz in the second quarter and is considering listing the shares on the New York or London stock exchanges, this person said, adding that it expected to sell about a third of Orbitz’s equity at a price that could value the entire business at $2.5 billion to $3 billion.
