Articles tagged “ipo”

In the first big travel IPO of the year, Kayak's 3.5 million shares will begin trading on Friday morning on the NASDAQ under the symbol KYAK.

Booking agent Yatra.com recently acquired several similar travel sites and now pines for the boost of credibility that a public listing in the US can provide, much likes its larger competitor MakeMyTrip.

You'd think Kayak might take a more conservative approach on pricing after the Facebook swoon, but a cork-popping $1 billion valuation maybe within Kayak's grasp and it has waited so long for this day.

TripAdvisor's path to global growth is a much easier one than Kayak's and it is not hard to envision heightened competition or even a merger of the two over time.

A dream deferred no longer -- maybe. Kayak can almost taste the public markets now, but as its IPO roadshow kicks into gear, this is not yet a done deal.

Expect Kayak to increase its leave of absence from the classic metasearch approach and to expand into new travel verticals with its Kayak booking path. Others, including Room 77, already are following Kayak's lead.

Start your engines. Kayak is beginning its road show in a bid to raise more than $100 million in an IPO. The company will face tough questions about Google's acquisition of ITA Software and whether it can paint a big enough growth story to satisfy would-be investors.