Trivago has finally announced its intention to go public through an IPO. In fact, it even released detailed filings of its plan to sell by an IPO. This popular German travel site intends to sell at a total of $428 million, since the shares will go at between $ 13 and $ 15. The company will list on the Nasdaq as TRVG. That the site is worth about that much money is an undeniable fact. It is indeed one of the most visited sites, and ranks high on the list of the best travelling sites in the whole world.
Although the company is known as Trivago to many, you will be surprised to learn that is actually not its official name- at least not yet. Its official name is Travel B.V. However, before the conclusion of the IPO, it will officially change its name to Trivago. It is also important to note that Expedia will not relinquish its controlling stakes on the company.
Trivago is a giant among hotel booking websites. Its key competitors include TripAdvisor and Kayak, whose popularity in the online community is nothing short of incredible. Trivago stands out from other such sites because it is candid, unbiased and has a rather vast outreach. It showcases about 1.3 million hotels in over 190 countries. That is impressive by any standards. Trivago is concerned about client satisfaction, and has quipped that the sole reason for its existence is to give honest travelling advice to as many people as possible. And for the greater part, the company has truly achieved this goal. The huge number of visitors it receives every month is enough proof of this fact.
Given the large number of hotels that it advertises, it goes without saying that Trivago brings in a lot of revenue. Basically, the site charges traveling agencies and hotels on a cost per click basis. Last year for instance, there were a staggering 487 million referrals from the site. The popularity of this site is nothing short of awe inspiring. It goes without saying that for Trivago, revenue keeps flowing in all year round.
But just like any company, Trivago hits some financial lows every now and then. 2015 was for instance a bad year for the company as it sustained heavy losses amounting to $ 42.8 million. The total revenue earned in that whole year was $324.6 million. The story is however very different this year. By September, the company had already brought in a solid $ 425.6 million. Clearly, the company is growing by leaps and bounds and its future looks bright.
Trivago was founded in 2005 and up to 2012, it received all its funding from HOWZAT media, which is a company that is based in London. In 2012, however, Expedia took up the role, which it has been playing up to date.
Admittedly, there haven’t been that many tech IPOs in 2016- the Trivago IPO is one of the very few. However, there are strong speculations that the story will be completely different in 2017, as more companies are expected to follow in the footsteps of Trivago.