Travelport in talks with Siris Capital
30 November 2018 - 12:00 am UTC
Financial sponsor Siris Capital is pursuing Travelport Worldwide [NYSE:TVPT] as the company explores a sale, said three sources familiar with the situation.
A second private equity firm is also looking at the UK-based travel technology services provider, two of these sources said. One of the sources said that London-based financial sponsor Cinven has been around the situation.
Elliott Management has disclosed a just under 12% stake in Travelport. The activist called for the company to explore strategic options in a 13D disclosure filed in late March. The fund said in the filing that it would consider being directly involved in a transaction.
In early November, this news service reported that Travelport held buyout talks with a consortium formed by Elliott and Bain Capital this summer, but that the consortium fell apart. The report said that, since then, Elliott had formed a consortium comprising two new financial sponsors in a renewed effort to take Travelport private. Siris is one of the private equity firms that may be working with Elliott, two of the sources said.
Financial sponsors have a history of owning travel technology companies. Blackstone Group has backed Travelport, while Cinven and BC Partners owned Amadeus [MCE:AMS], and TPG and Silver Lake backed Sabre [NASDAQ:SABR]. The sponsors later exited the companies through IPOs.
Travelport, Siris and Cinven declined comment. Elliott did not return requests for comment.
by Bhavna Kaul and Jay Antenen
