Orbitz stock sale raises $510 million

Orbitz Worldwide Inc., the online travel agency owned by buyout firm Blackstone Group, raised $510 million in an initial share sale Thursday.

The Chicago-based company sold 34 million shares at $15 each, less than the range it forecast this month. The stock will begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange today under the symbol OWW.

Blackstone, the website’s owner for 11 months through its Travelport Ltd. unit, took Orbitz public to capitalize on a surge in global travel. Total online bookings in North America, Europe and Asia grew 30% last year.

Still, the pricing of the deal suggested that “investors are becoming a little gun-shy about the bailout mentality that surrounds private equity firms,” said David Menlow, president of research firm IPO Financial Network.

Typically, private equity investors hold companies for years before selling them. But over the last year some private equity firms have quickly “flipped” companies they’ve purchased.

Orbitz had hoped to get $16 to $18 for its shares.

Travelport will keep ownership of 60% of Orbitz’s stock.

Blackstone bought Travelport in 2006 for $4.3 billion from the former Cendant Corp. Orbitz was first taken public by its five airline owners in 2003. In 2004, Cendant, now Avis Budget Group Inc., bought the company for $1.25 billion.