Business Overview
We are a leading technology solutions provider to the global travel and tourism industry. We operate through three business segments:
• Travel Network, our global B2B travel marketplace for travel suppliers and travel buyers;
• Airline and Hospitality Solutions, an extensive suite of leading software solutions primarily for airlines and hotel properties; and
• Travelocity, our portfolio of online consumer travel e-commerce businesses through which we provide travel content and booking functionality primarily for leisure travelers.
In March 2007, we were acquired by investment funds affiliated with or managed by the Principal Stockholders. Prior to that time, we were an independent, publicly-traded company with our common stock listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
In connection with the acquisition, the Principal Stockholders appointed Mr. Gilliland to serve as our CEO and entered into employment agreements and other arrangements with the members of our-then senior management. Of the Named Executive Officers, only Messrs. Gilliland, Miller, and Klein were employed with us at that time. In negotiating these initial employment agreements and arrangements with our current Named Executive Officers, our board of directors, whose members then consisted of representatives of the Principal Stockholders, placed significant emphasis on aligning management’s interests with those of the Principal Stockholders. In particular, Messrs. Gilliland and Klein each made a significant equity investment in our common stock in connection with the acquisition and received equity awards that included performance vesting options that would vest upon the Principal Stockholders receiving reasonable rates of return on their invested capital.
The Principal Stockholders directed our senior management to lead an aggressive plan to eliminate organizational inefficiencies, expand the scope of our various businesses and to secure our position as the leading technology provider for the travel and tourism industries. To date, we have been successful in strengthening our business, developing into a global brand, and increasing revenue growth and sustained profitability, in part, through the design of our executive compensation program.
As we have prepared for this initial public offering, we have focused on attracting and retaining a talented management team with the necessary experience to manage our business as a newly-public company. The Named Executive Officers have strong transformational experience and, collectively, more than 160 years of technology sector experience among them.
Prior to consummation of this offering, we intend to adopt the 2014 Omnibus Incentive Compensation Plan (the “2014 Omnibus Plan”), which we believe will allow us to compete for executive talent and align the interests of our executive officers with those of our stockholders.