Shareholders in Travelport will vote on the company’s $4.4-billion acquisition by private equity firms Evergreen Coast Capital and Siris Capital Group at a special general meeting in New York on March 15.
Travelport confirmed a 45-day “go-shop” period during which it sought rival takeover offers had expired with no alternative bids.
The company said: “None of the third parties contacted during this process provided a proposal or offer regarding an alternative acquisition proposal.”
The takeover was announced a fortnight before Christmas almost nine months after Evergreen, a division of leading US hedge fund Elliott Management, took a near-12% stake in Travelport
Travelport also announced the successful implementation of Iata’s New Distribution Capability (NDC) booking technology at a first wave of travel management companies (TMCs) and agencies.
These include American Express Global Business Travel (GBT), Dnata, Gray Dawes Group, Global Travel Management, Meon Valley Travel, Premier Holidays, TAG, Travel Counsellors and Travel and Transport Statesman.
Travelport announced completion of the first live booking of NDC content at Meon Valley last October.
Nick Dagg, Travelport senior vice-president of global agency sales, said: “Our agency customers rely on us to provide them with choice through access to the broadest range of travel content.
“NDC is no exception and we’ve taken great care in managing the roll out of our NDC booking capability.
“This has allowed us to learn as we go, listen to feedback from customers and refine our NDC solution.”
John Bukowski, American Express GBT director of content and distribution, said: “We’re working with key parties to ensure we continue to deliver access to all content, with a focus on improving traveller experience, controlling cost, maintaining full end-to-end servicing, as well as transparent fares, pricing and comparison shopping.
“NDC is an important step in advancing airline offers and fare options, which should remain focused on delivering value to corporate clients and not as a means to limit access to content, add cost or force new and costly airline connectivity.”