Tripadvisor to Merge 2 Businesses as Activist Investors Urge Sale

The Tripadvisor Group reportedly plans to merge two of its three businesses, Tripadvisor and Viator, amid activist investors’ pressure to consider selling either the entire company or its other division, TheFork.

The business combination will lead to “substantial” layoffs among its engineering staff, Seeking Alpha reported Tuesday (Nov. 4), citing a paywalled article by travel news publication Skift.

Reached by PYMNTS, a Tripadvisor spokesperson said: “We don’t comment on speculation or rumor.”

Bloomberg reported in August that Palliser Capital was urging Tripadvisor to explore a potential sale and that the company was already being pressured by “another high-profile shareholder activist.”

It was reported in March 2024 that Tripadvisor was considering a takeover bid from Apollo Global Management.

In Tripadvisor’s most recent earnings release, which was issued Aug. 7, the company said its revenue for the second quarter was up 7% year over year and totaled $529 million.

Tripadvisor CEO Matt Goldberg said in the release that the company was pleased with the results and that the company was driving value to customers and partners.

“This quarter is another example of our disciplined investment decisions and execution, and the changing composition of our financial mix towards our growth marketplaces,” Goldberg said. “As we look to the back half of the year and beyond, we will continue to prioritize the highest growth opportunities across travel by leveraging our unique assets and trusted position across travel and experiences.”

That report said that Tripadvisor had been working with advisers to consider any takeover interest since February 2024, when its board authorized talks on a possible acquisition.

The company is set to release its third quarter financial results on Thursday (Nov. 6).

Tripadvisor announced in January that it partnered with artificial intelligence startup Perplexity to integrate its travel resources, including content from Tripadvisor and Viator, with Perplexity’s advanced search capabilities.

In March, Tripadvisor said it had been named an external data and intelligence partner for Microsoft Azure AI Agent Service, meaning its 1 billion reviews and contributions would be integrated with the data availability and AI capabilities of that service. Tripadvisor said this would enable Azure customers to create AI agents powered by its data and insights.