The Cendant Corporation has sold its travel distribution division, Travelport to the Blackstone Group for $4.3bn in cash.
Travelport owned leading GDS Galileo, online agencies ebookers, Orbitz and Orbitz for Business, CheapTickets and GTA, a wholesaler of global travel content.
The division has been bought by an affiliate of the Blackstone Group, a private investment and advisory company.
The sale still leaves the giant Cendant Corporation, based in Parsippany, New Jersey, owning the Avis and Budget Car rental brands and hotel brands which include Wyndham Worldwide, Days Inn and Ramada as well as real estate interests.
Cendant said the proceeds of the cash sale would go to reducing debts in other parts of the Corporation.
The sales of Travelport, only recently re-named after being known as Cendant TDS, was first mooted in April.
Originally the company had talked of spinning off the TDS division as a separate company. Earlier this year as part of what was thought to be the "spinning off process", it appointed industry veteran Gordon Bethune, former chairman of Continental Airlines, as its new chairman and later Jeff Clarke of CA as its new ceo.
Blackstone has not revealed its plans for Travelport but both Mr Clarke and Mr Bethune were remarkably upbeat about the company's future.
Mr Clarke said: "As a private company, Travelport will now have considerably greater financial latitude and firepower to take advantage of burgeoning opportunities in the travel market.”
Mr Bethune said: "I believe Travelport is poised to become the most relevant global brand in the travel industry."
One analyst, Henry Harteveldt of US consultants Forrester Research was reported assaying: "I wouldn't be surprised to see Orbitz try to expand into the European and Asian markets."