NEW YORK (AP) ? Travel website Expedia Inc.’s spin-off of TripAdvisor Inc. as a separately traded, independent company was complete Wednesday, with TripAdvisor shares set to start trading for the first time.
Expedia shareholders received one share of TripAdvisor and one share of Expedia for every two shares of Expedia they held at the close of trading Tuesday.
Expedia lost more than half their value and were trading at $27.37 before the opening bell, with investors believing TripAdvisor accounted for about half the market value of Expedia.
Expedia first said in April it planned to spin off TripAdvisor, which lets travelers post advice and reviews and offers planning features such as flight searches and links to hotel and flight bookings.
TripAdvisor shares were set to start trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market under the symbol “TRIP.” They’ll be part of the S&P 500 index, replacing telecommunications equipment maker Tellabs Inc., which is moving to the S&P 5&P 400 MidCap index because its market capitalization has fallen below $1.5 billion.