UPDATE: Expedia Inc. says it intends to raise $750 million in its offering of senior unsecured notes.
The offering of the notes, at 5.95%, is expected to close Aug. 5.
In its original announcement, Expedia hadn't revealed the pricing, but did so in a second announcement later in the day.
The original story follows:
Expedia Inc. may be raising some money with acquisitions in mind.
The company announced today that it will begin a private offering for senior unsecured notes, with the principal amount and terms to be determined at the time of sale.
The net proceeds, Expedia says, will be used for general corporate purposes, including "repurchases of its common stock and future acquisitions by it or any of its subsidiaries."
Over the past year, Expedia has spoken of being open to acquisitions involving its advertising and media business and/or those which would expand its geographic reach.
However, Expedia officials last week also issued stern warnings about the threat posed by the Google-ITA Software deal, and Expedia is believed to have been an active player with Kayak in attempting to keep ITA Software out of Google's hands.
If Expedia is shopping around for an acquisition to serve as a defense against Google's acquisition of ITA Software, it wouldn't be the only major travel industry player pondering such a move.