TRAVELPORT HAS SUSPENDED PLANS to float on the London Stock Exchange (LSE).
The travel technology company said the decision to abandon the initial public offering (IPO) was taken because of volatility in the financial markets. But the private equity-backed firm, which owns global distribution systems (GDSs) Galileo and Worldspan, has not ruled out a return to the markets later in the year.
Jeff Clarke, Travelport's chief executive, (pictured) said: "Since we announced our intention to float there has been significantly increased volatility and uncertainty in global equity markets as a result of macro circumstances unrelated to our business.
We will consider bringing it back to the market at a future date, when equity market conditions are more favourable."
Analysts said the IPO would have been the UK's largest for two years. Private equity firm Blackstone led a buyout of Travelport with Technology Crossover Ventures from US conglomerate Cendant in 2006 for US$4.3 billion (£2.7 billion). Its 70 per cent stake was expected to drop to about 40 per cent following the IPO.