Trivago Files for IPO

Travel B.V., also known as Trivago, has filed an F-1 form with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regarding its initial public offering (IPO). No pricing details were given in the filing, other than the offering is valued up to $400 million. The company intends to list its American depositary shares on the Nasdaq under the symbol TRVG.

The underwriters for the offering are JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Allen, Merrill Lynch, Citigroup, Deutsche Bank, Cowen and Guggenheim.

Trivago is a global hotel search platform. The company describes its mission as to “be the traveler’s first and independent source of information for finding the ideal hotel at the lowest rate.” The company is focused on reshaping the way travelers search for and compare hotels, while enabling hotel advertisers to grow their businesses by providing access to a broad audience of travelers via its websites and apps.

[nativounit]

Its platform allows travelers to make informed decisions by personalizing their hotel search and providing access to a deep supply of hotel information and prices. In the 12 months ended September 30, 2016, Trivago tracked roughly 1.4 billion visits to its websites and apps, resulting in 487 million qualified referrals, and offered access to approximately 1.3 million hotels in over 190 countries.

This brand positions Trivago as a key starting point for travelers searching for their ideal hotel. Its fast and intuitive hotel search platform enables travelers to find their ideal hotel by matching individual traveler preferences with detailed hotel characteristics such as price, location, availability, amenities and ratings, across a vast supply of global hotels. In the 12 months ended September 30, 2016, comparing across all of its localized websites and apps, Trivago provided a range of prices per hotel with the cheapest advertiser offering a price on average 19% lower than the most expensive advertiser.

The company intends to use the net proceeds from the offering for working capital and general corporate purposes.

[wallst_email_signup]

Keep in mind that Trivago is currently a subsidiary of Expedia Inc. (NASDAQ: EXPE). This filing more or less says that Expedia is looking to simplify its corporate structure by spinning off Trivago while still holding a sizable ownership stake.

Shares of Expedia were trading up 2.6% at 122.00 on Tuesday, with a consensus analyst price target of $141.42 and a 52-week trading range of $88.40 to $133.55.