Sean O'Neill, Skift
Travel Tripper is taking on a distressed asset, Pegasus. Meh. But what's interesting is that Accel-KKR is backing the deal. The support by the private equity firm is yet another sign of more rollups of hotel tech companies to come against a backdrop of hotel software investments by Amadeus, Sabre, and Shiji.
1 month ago
Sean O'Neill, Skift
Few companies other than activist investor Elliott Management expressed a serious interest in acquiring Travelport. Elliott twice lost potential private equity partners after they reviewed Travelport's books. The deal price is underwhelming, and that's a signal that some things haven't been going the company's way.
2 months ago
Sean O'Neill, Skift
Switchfly, a travel tech firm specializing in loyalty and e-commerce upselling, has been taken over by private equity firms Golub Capital and L Capital.
2 months ago
Sean O'Neill, Skift
The early consensus is that Elliott Management put together a disappointing deal for investors. We cover the case for and against the deal here. But expect larger Travelport investors to consider resisting the deal or hope that a white knight acquirer rides in with a better offer.
3 months ago
Sean O'Neill, Skift
The long-predicted buyout of public-company Travelport has happened at a premium of about twice the market capitalization of the company. Expect a spinout of the company's eNett payments division and the proverbial "cost restructuring."
3 months ago
Sean O'Neill, Skift
Travelport has only been on the public market for four years, but hedge fund Elliott Management believes it can engineer a leveraged buyout that will unlock more value from the company. A spin-off of payments unit eNett is a likely early goal.
3 months ago
Jeremy Hill, Bloomberg
Upper90's joint venture hospitality developer Domio is further testament to the transformation of the hotel industry as new money goes into apartment-style properties rather than boxy, chain hotels. Investments like these will also contribute to urban gentrification.
6 months ago
Dennis Schaal, Skift
Did Hotels.com co-founders Bob Diener and Dave Litman do it again with Getaroom? Certainly not on the same scale, but Court Square's acquisition of Getaroom looks like a winner for the duo, who self-funded their latest venture in travel.
7 months ago
George Smith Alexander and P R Sanjai, Bloomberg
Jet Airways is in a race to raise cash as its pile of debt balloons. Blackstone is reportedly discussing a valuation of around $400 million to $500 million for the Indian carrier's loyalty arm, but the bigger financial picture remains troubled.
7 months ago
Gillian Tan, Bloomberg
That didn't take long. No sooner did private equity powerhouse Blackstone say it was exiting Hilton completely than it emerges three days later with a bid for LaSalle Hotel Properties. Maybe the $14 billion it made on Hilton has something to do with being keen to get back into hotels.
10 months ago
Gillian Tan, Bloomberg
The hospitality world all wondered when private equity powerhouse Blackstone would take its exit from Hilton. Now we know. So ends a storied chapter where Blackstone took Hilton private, and then public. All along the way, you know Blackstone was lining its pockets.
10 months ago
Sean O'Neill, Skift
The last thing travel tech giant Travelport needs is to be sold to private equity. It's still digging out from all the debt Blackstone saddled it with. Our best guess is that it will be forced to partly sell eNett, a payments business.
12 months ago