Expedia Inc.'s spinoff of TripAdvisor has been delayed "weeks, not months," and should be completed before the end of 2011.
That's the new timeline articulated by Dara Khosrowshahi, president and CEO of Expedia Inc., as he was interviewed today at the Nasdaq OMX 26th Investor Program in London.
In April, when Expedia Inc. revealed plans to spin-off TripAdvisor into a public company, the Securities and Exchange Commission filing about the spinoff was to take place in the Spring and the spinoff was slated to be accomplished by the third quarter of 2011.
Khosrowshahi said today that Expedia Inc. is finalizing the capitalization details of the spinoff and expects to file the SEC documents this Summer instead of the Spring.
He said the filing has been delayed "weeks, not months" and that the spinoff should be finished by the end of 2011.
IAC/Interactive Corp, which owned Expedia at the time, acquired TripAdvisor in 2004, and TripAdvisor became part of Expedia Inc. when IAC spun off Expedia in 2005.
TripAdvisor is considered to be the largest travel media business in the world.
Khosrowshahi noted that the two businesses have always been operated separately given the possibility of eventually spinning off TripAdvisor.
In other news, Khosrowshahi said intends to grow more aggressively in South America, particularly in Brazil.
And, he added, the Expedia brand will play a grreater role in South America as part of the expansion agenda.
Speaking about Expedia's new flash sales partnership with Groupon, which is expected to get under way this month, Khosrowshahi said the partnership represents another way that Expedia's hotel partners can reach a segmented audience.
"We think Groupon is just another choice for our travel partners," Khosrowshahi said.