OAK BROOK, Ill. -- Orbitz and its airline owners sold nearly 12.2
million shares of the stock for $26 a share in its long-awaited
initial public offering.
That means they raised more money than they expected last month
because the projected opening price had been $22 to $24.
Orbitz sold four million shares, garnering $93.9 million in net
proceeds after deducting IPO expenses, and its five airline owners
sold nearly 8.2 million shares [they initially expected to sell 7
million] for more than $212 million.
The stock price of ORBZ climbed as high as $30.75 in its first
day of trading, but closed at $24.98, down 3.9%.
Orbitz, meanwhile, will pay a one-time referral fee to Delta,
Northwest and Continental for each corporate customer that becomes
a client of Orbitz for Business after being referred by the
airline, Orbitz revealed in a Securities and Exchange Commission
filing Dec. 16.
Orbitz made those deals with Delta, Northwest and Continental on
March 1, July 31 and Sept. 12, respectively.
The referrals so far have been slow: As of Sept. 30, Orbitz said
it had not paid any such referral fees.