Get ready for another IPO.
Trivago, the German-based online travel giant that’s owned by Bellevue-based Expedia, filed for an initial public offering this week.
It is looking to raise $400 million, signaling a possible uptick in the IPO market just before the holidays.
Bloomberg News reports that Trivago will have two classes of shares, with class A shares held by Trivago founders and executives, and class B shares held by Expedia shareholders.
A Trivago IPO has long been anticipated, and Expedia CEO Dara Khosrowshahi explained the logic behind the deal at the 2016 GeekWire Summit in October and in other communications with investors.
“An IPO would allow customers to value Trivago as a separate standalone company,” Khosrowshahi said earlier this this year. “Note that this is an IPO, not a spinoff. Expedia does not plan to sell off any of its shares in an IPO, nor is there any guarantee that an IPO will ultimately be pursued or successful.”
In 2012, Expedia acquired a 61.6 percent of Trivago for $632 million. Trivago, which attracted 1.4 billion visits to its Web site and apps for the 12 months ended on Sept. 30, says its mission is to “be the traveler’s first and independent source of information for finding the ideal hotel at the lowest rate.”
The business has grown with very little outside capital, with the company saying it raised a modest seed round of funding of about $1.5 million in 2006 and 2008, prior to Expedia’s involvement.
Trivago plans to trade on the Nasdaq exchange under the ticker TRVG.
You can read more about Trivago’s prospects and risk factors in this SEC filing.
