Travelport invites banks to beauty parade ahead of London flotation

Travelport, the privately owned $2.5bn (£1.5bn) travel group, has arranged a beauty parade of banks in early October ahead of a London Stock Exchange flotation.

It is understood that a series of leading investment banks, including Morgan Stanley Citi and Credit Suisse, will pitch to arrange the listing over two-to-three days in London.

It is believed that Travelport, an online travel specialist which is mainly based in the UK but run by chief executive Jeff Clarke from New York, insisted that as many of the banks' big hitters were as available as possible.

Travelport is owned by private-equity giant Blackstone, which bought the group for $4.3bn in 2006. Five banks, including Goldman Sachs and UBS, were hired last year to arrange a flotation, which would have valued Travelport at $8bn. However, plans fell apart as the markets tumbled, leaving the banks frustrated that they were not left on retainer.