Net travel firm plans share float

Orbitz, the US online travel company, has given details of its forthcoming share flotation on the stock market.

The firm said it would offer four million shares to the public, raising $82.2m in the process, as it seeks to compete with larger travel websites.

Orbitz stockholders, who include some of the US's largest airlines, will also sell an extra seven million shares.

The firm has completed more than 22 million transactions since starting business in February 2000.

Interest in initial public offerings (IPOs) of shares has picked up in recent months as the stock market has recovered.

Last month, a number of press reports said search engine Google was close to floating its shares for the first time, in a move which could value the firm at $25bn.

Risks

The flotation of Orbitz could raise about $300m in total for the company and its stockholders.

The company was founded in February 2000 with financing from American Airlines, United Airlines, Northwest Airlines, Continental Airlines, and Delta Air Lines.

But a flotation will help it raise extra funds to take on its bigger rivals in the online travel market - Expedia and Travelocity.

Orbitz warned possible investors that this could be a tough task.

"Many of our competitors have longer operating histories, larger customer bases, more established brands and significantly greater financial, marketing and other resources than we do," the company said.

No date has been yet been set for the flotation.

Over the first nine months of this year, Orbitz reported a net loss of $1.4m on revenue of $172.1m.