Trivago plans IPO of up to US$400M

Trivago, the hotel search platform majority-held by online travel firm Expedia Inc., filed with the U.S. regulators on Monday for an initial public offering of up to US$400 million.

Trivago said it planned to offer American depositary shares (ADSs), representing Class A shares of its affiliate, travel B.V.

A portion of the ADSs will be issued and sold by the company and a portion by certain shareholders, the company said. The selling shareholders include Trivago’s founders.

In 2012, Expedia paid 477 million euros (US$531 million) for a 62-per-cent stake in Trivago.

Expedia, which is not selling any ADSs, and its affiliates will hold Class B shares after the IPO, the company said.

Expedia chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi told investors in July that management and Trivago’s founding team had agreed to an IPO to value Trivago as a standalone company.

Monday’s filing did not reveal how many shares the company planned to sell or their expected price.

Trivago plans to list on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol “TRVG.”

JPMorgan Securities LLC, Goldman Sachs & Co. and Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC are the underwriters to the offering.

The amount of money a company says it plans to raise in its first IPO filings is used to calculate registration fees.

The final size of the IPO could be different.