Travelport Weighs U.S. IPO as Passengers Return

(Bloomberg) -- Travel-booking software provider Travelport is exploring a U.S. initial public offering as pandemic restrictions start to lift globally, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

The technology company, which was taken private in 2019 by Elliott Investment Management and Siris Capital Group, may go public as soon as the second half of this year, said one of the people, who asked not to be identified discussing confidential information.

A final decision on pursuing an IPO hasn’t been made and the company’s plans could still change, the people said.

A spokesperson for Travelport didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. Representatives for Elliott and Siris declined to comment.

Travelport’s customers have included American Airlines Group Inc., Southwest Airlines Co., Singapore Airlines Ltd. and Webjet Ltd., its website shows. The company has $3.8 billion in net debt, said a person familiar with the matter.

Under the ownership of Elliott and Siris, Travelport made changes to its management team, including naming former Sabre Corp. executive Greg Webb as chief executive officer. The company has also cut costs and taken strategic steps such as rolling its offerings into a core platform known as Travelport+.

In an April 2021 note, Fitch Ratings said the company’s business was “severely affected” by the disruption caused by the coronavirus pandemic, noting that its booking revenues were “broadly commensurate” with peers Sabre and Amadeus IT Group SA. Both Sabre and Amadeus saw their stock plunge at the onset of the pandemic and then re-gain some of the lost ground with vaccine rollouts and the resumption of global travel.

“The global travel recovery was slow at the beginning of the year, but that has changed significantly,” Sabre CEO Sean Menke said in an earnings call this month, adding that February bookings were on pace to “reach a similar level of recovery versus the same period in 2019.”

November was Sabre’s best month since the onset of the pandemic, Menke said, adding that 2022 is “shaping up to be a year of recovery and progress.”

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An IPO would be the second for Travelport. Blackstone, which had agreed to acquire the company for about $4.3 billion in 2006, took it public in 2014 in a $480 million listing at a market value of almost $2 billion. Elliott and Siris paid $15.75 a share for Travelport in their leveraged buyout, 1.6% less than the IPO price of the shares.

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