Private Equity gains altitude

Back in late June, The Blackstone Group and Technology Crossover Ventures (TCV) shelled out about $4.3 billion to buy the travel assets of Cendant, called Travelport. The assets are extensive, including CheapTickets, Orbitz, Gullivers Travel Associates and the Galileo global distribution system (GDS), which processes airline tickets.

The goal for Blackstone/TCV: build a much larger travel distribution company.

Well, it has wasted little time. This week, the company purchased Worldspan for $1.4 billion. The company is a dominant player in the GDS space.

All in all, the deal makes a lot of sense. There should be big cost savings – as well as top-line growth opportunities (in terms of cross-selling). The combined company will have roughly $3.5 billion in revenues.

But it is still risky. After all, airlines are trying to avoid – or cut pricing – with GDSs. Of course, the Internet is a threat. What's more, there will be serious challenges in terms of integration of the complex organizations of Travelport and Worldspan (ie, both have different technology platforms).

But there were two key winners: Citigroup Venture Capital Equity Partners and Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan. These firms purchased Worldspan in 2003. And, because of the Travelport deal, they generated a tidy 250% return.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including the Complete M&A Handbook and operates DealProfiles.com.