Orbitz sets IPO price

November 26, 2003 —

Orbitz Inc., the travel Web site owned by several large U.S. airlines, expects to raise about US$82.2 million in an initial public offering (IPO), it said in a regulatory filing.

The Chicago-based company plans to sell 4 million shares at between $22 and $24 a piece. Current stockholders will sell an additional 7 million shares at the same price, Orbitz disclosed in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Tuesday. No date has been set for the IPO.

Orbitz has applied for quotation of its stock on the Nasdaq stock market under the symbol "ORBZ." Proceeds from the offering would be used for working capital and general corporate purposes. Orbitz will not receive any of the proceeds from the sale of the shares by its stockholders, the company said.

Orbitz was started in 2000 with money from Continental Airlines Inc., Delta Air Lines Inc., UAL Corp.'s United Air Lines Inc., Northwest Airlines Corp., and AMR Corp.'s American Airlines. The travel site went online in June 2001 and now claims to be the third largest based on travel bookings. It's chief rivals are Expedia Inc. and Travelocity.com LP.

Since its launch, more than 22 million transactions have been completed through the Orbitz site, the company said. In the quarter ending Sept. 30, Orbitz had net income of $3.9 million on revenue of $64.4 million, it said.

IDG News Service