Articles tagged “travelport”

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."

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.

In settling this lawsuit, Amadeus doesn't admit to any wrongdoing or violations of antitrust law. Along with Travelport, Amadeus agreed to have its team engage in antitrust compliance training.

Over the years, the big global distribution systems have been a major barrier to innovation by airlines and travel startups, in particular. The European Commission now intends to take a serious look at this dynamic.

Gordon Wilson, the CEO of Travelport, said in an interview that he sees India as one of the drivers of its long-term growth. That's plausible, but not assured. Private equity should take the company private to shield it from quarterly earnings pressure, and allow it to invest properly to make the most of its varied opportunities.

This move signals Sabre's eagerness to remain a powerhouse for travel agents in a changing landscape where alternative lodging, driven by the popularity of Airbnb, takes off. Come 2019, Sabre aims to be more of a one-stop shop for agents. Some agents applaud the move; others couldn't care less.

Travelport has worked hard over the last few years to develop new airline merchandising and travel payments solutions on a global level. Next comes the challenge of driving wider adoption in the marketplace.

In an interview, Travelport CEO Gordon Wilson strikes an optimistic tone for his company and for the negotiations at large over the fate of Britain's relationship with the European Union. We'll see if his confidence will be borne out by events.

The global distribution systems are each pushing forward in their own unique way. By investing like technology companies in flexible distribution and payment technologies, they hope to provide a better value proposition to travel partners that are keen to cut out the middleman. Decades of bad blood between the two, however, still linger over the conversation.

CEO Gordon Wilson of Travelport says his technology company is making it easier for airlines to display on travel agency "shelves" their content in the way they want. If true, that could significantly help airlines maximize their revenue.