And another bidder joins the race…………………….
A report by Scott Rochfort in The Sydney Morning Herald today says that the online hotel booking service Wotif’s $49.8 million takeover bid for travel.com.au is already under challenge, after the Melbourne-based tour group Australia Online Travel emerged with a 7.8 per cent stake in the online travel portal.
Amid speculation AOT, perhaps better known to the trade as Australian Outback Travel, wants to grab a 10 per cent blocking stake in travel.com.au, with the company’s owner, Andrew Burnes, saying, “We’re building a stake in the company.” “That’s all I’ve got to say about it.”
Mr Burnes also sits on the Tourism Australia board.
Travel.com.au is already subject to two rival takeover bids and its board last month endorsed the initial, lower, bid from Webjet.
As consolidation of the online travel sector accelerates, there is speculation Mr Burnes wants to build a blocking stake to force either Wotif or Webjet to the negotiating table.
It has been suggested Mr Burnes might want to strike a deal with the new owners of travel.com.au, which may involve a joint venture with his own travel websites Travelmate and Need It Now.
Travel.com.au declined to comment on Wotif’s 50c-a-share offer.
“This really does require the travel.com board to indicate what it’s going to do,” said Wotif’s chief operating officer, Robbie Cooke.
Mr Cooke said he had yet to talk to travel.com.au about his company’s proposed offer.
Webjet, which has a lower, 44.5c cash and scrip offer on the table, has not returned the Herald’s calls for the past two days.
But even before AOT disclosed it had built up its stake – after appearing as a substantial shareholder only last Thursday – travel.com.au shares rose 2c to 60c yesterday, well clear of Wotif’s offer.
The chairman of travel.com.au, Roger Sharp, admitted it could be difficult for him to endorse automatically the higher Wotif offer.
Mr Sharp, who runs travel .com.au’s largest shareholder, Co-Investor Capital Partners, has already entered into a deal to sell its 19.9 per cent stake to Webjet.
Aside from making an easy profit from an impending bidding war, there are rumours Mr Burnes’s AOT might be in favour of Webjet taking control of travel.com rather than Wotif and AOT and Webjet have engaged in joint marketing deals in the past.
Flight Centre has so far played down its interest in launching a rival offer to protect its No. 1 position in the fast-growing online travel market.
The Queensland property and travel company MFS, which bought out Australia’s largest travel agency franchise operator, S8, last year, did not respond on whether it could have an interest.
Report by The Mole from The Sydney Morning Herald
John Alwyn-Jones
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