Friday, September 12, 2008

Barry Diller dismisses Expedia buyout

Expedia Chairman, Barry Diller, announced that the company stands on its ongoing growth plans and dismissed newly resurfaced rumors that the online travel site would be made private.

Although, Barry has over 60 percent shareholding in Expedia, he told the media that he was against privatizing the company and blamed speculators for these rumors.

Like many Hollywood extravaganzas, Diller's production in the last two years has strayed a lot from its script and he has been a victim of changing industry trends. He said that he was so unsure and suspecting about the current markets, which makes anyone believe that there is something fishy behind everything. Unfortunately, it is this uncertainty that drives market rises and falls. Perhaps, excessive exposure to such conditions makes one a bit unstable and drives them to believe such rumors.

For those who came in late, Diller was the former head of Paramount Pictures and the founder of Fox Television Network. Now he is rebranding himself to dominate the entire sector of online commerce and has given priority to nothing else. However, IAC was still awaiting the formal go-ahead from the Exchange Commission

Though the rumor mills have been fairly quiet of late, it is believed that Google is in the middle of these two rumored deals. As a result, shares of online travel site Expedia were up by 2% on Wednesday, 28th May, 2008 which was more that of the previous day’s 10% gain on rumors of the potential buyout by Google.

Despite its growth slide, Expedia continues to amass 30% profit margins before most non-cash charges.

So don’t shed any tears for Barry Diller yet

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