Skift Take
A potential buyer could decide to break up Tripadvisor's parts, including Viator, TheFork, and metasearch, under the theory that the parts are worth more than the whole.
The prospect of a deal to acquire Tripadvisor hung over the company's fourth-quarter earnings call Thursday and executives didn't offer any further details.
Tripadvisor said Monday that it had formed a committee to evaluate proposals. One key question is how any transaction would affect a potential spinoff of Viator, Tripadvisor's tours and activities brand – and growth engine.
Tripadvisor CEO Matt Goldberg said on the call that it wasn't top of mind.
"Since I joined the company, of course, this notion of a spinoff of Viator has just not been something that we've spent a lot of time and energy on, given the markets that we've been in," said Goldberg, who became the company's boss July 1, 2022.
Chief Financial Officer Michael Noonan said Tripadvisor expects that Viator and TheFork, which is the leading dining reservations brand in Europe, will be profitable on a full-year basis — for the f