Sabre Holdings are reportedly trying to dispose of lastminute.com, after taking over the dotcom nearly a decade ago for £577 million (approx US$1,020M).
According to Sky News, Sabre has appointed an advisory firm “to sound out potential buyers” and oversee the auction if it proceeds.
This isn’t the first time Sabre has tried to sell lastminute.com – attempting to offload it for next to nothing during 2012 and 2013 when it sold off much of Travelocity’s global assets, including Zuji and Holiday Autos, but failed to secure a buyer at that time for the UK start-up it purchased in 2005.
Lastminute.com was setup by Oxford graduate Brent Hoberman and Martha Lane Fox in 1998 and has been seen as the ‘darling dotcom’ of its time and one of the “original icons” of the original online boom.
A spokesperson for Sabre told Sky News: “We are always reviewing options to make our technology company as successful, relevant and innovative as possible. If we have news to share, we commit to doing so quickly and transparently.”
According to Sky News sources, the technology giant was prepared to “accept a substantial loss” on the initial purchase price. The news reports that “prospective buyers could include private equity firms or rival online travel groups such as Expedia”.
Sabre has itself listed on the public markets, floating on Nasdaq in April with a valuation of nearly US$4 billion. While lastminute.com’s biggest market shares are in the UK and France, it has struggled to make an impact elsewhere in Europe.
Analysts say that Travelocity failed to integrate Lastminute.com effectively or to build the network of hotels or other partners to which it has access during a period when some rivals have expanded aggressively.
There has also been criticism of Sabre calling the Lastminute brand “an under-utilised asset” last year.
Lastminute,com, the European arm is not to be confused with Lastminute.com.au – the Australian subsidiary – which is fully owned by the Wotif Group, who has accepted an offer to be bought by Expedia last month.