Travelocity goes for $420m

NEWS Travelocity shareholders have voted in favour of a takeover by Sabre after the travel technology giant agreed to increase its purchase price. After weeks of dispute, Sabre yesterday said it would offer Travelocity shareholders $28 per share, valuing the company at $420m. Sabre also said it would settle the eleven shareholder lawsuits filed to block the deal. Shareholders had rejected Sabre's earlier offer of $23 per share, or $345m, calling it "inadequate and opportunistic." At the time Sabre, which already owned 70 per cent of Travelocity, said it did not require shareholder approval to continue with the takeover process. Sabre established Travelocity in 1996 and owned it outright until March 2000, when it was spun off. Sabre clearly thinks Travelocity is a long-term survivor, said Mark Riseley, a travel industry analyst with GartnerG2. "Sabre now wants to take direct responsibility for running the company. They've basically operated it at arms length - because in the early days of a start-up there is the risk that old ideas and old attitudes can kill it - but it now feels it need to reintegrate and make sure the strategies work together," he said.