A hedge firm and private equity firm have agreed to acquire
Travelport in a $4.4 billion transaction. If the acquisition is completed as
planned, with regulatory and shareholder approvals, Travelport will become
privately held.
Siris Capital Group and Evergreen Coast Capital Corp. plan
to acquire the travel technology company in an all-cash transaction.
Siris is focused on investing in technology, data and
telecommunications in North America. Evergreen is the private equity affiliate
of Elliott Management Corp.
Earlier this year, Elliott Associates, the flagship fund of
Elliott Management Corp., acquired a nearly 12% stake in Travelport.
Its manager, billionaire Paul Singer, and his entities are known for shaking up
companies. At the time, analysts said Elliott likely purchased a stake in Travelport because it viewed
the company as undervalued.
According to Travelport, Siris and Evergreen will acquire
all outstanding shares of Travelport for $15.75 per share.
The agreement has been approved by Travelport's board of
directors, which has recommended that shareholders vote in favor of the acquisition.
As part of the agreement, Travelport can seek other
acquisition proposals through Jan. 23 and can terminate the current agreement
if a better proposal is received.
If the agreement with Siris and Evergreen is approved by
shareholders and regulators, it is expected to close in the second quarter of
2019. At that point, Travelport will become a privately held company. Its
headquarters will remain in Langley, U.K.
"Travelport welcomes this proposed transaction with
Siris and Evergreen, who are specialist technology platform investors," Travelport
president and CEO Gordon Wilson said in a statement. "Throughout the
process, Siris and Evergreen have demonstrated their deep technology expertise
together with a strong commitment to the success of our customers, employees
and partners. We will continue to develop and invest in our platform to serve
the changing needs of our customers in the travel industry. It is very much
business as usual at Travelport, and we look forward to this new era in the
company's development."
In a statement, executives from Siris and Elliott said they
were attracted to Travelport based on its leadership, scale and reach,
technology, payment solution eNett and its GDS platform.