2007 - the year of the Travelport break up

As I have been anticipating for some time, 2007 is gearing up to be the year that the three Traveport divisions - GTA, Galileo and Orbitz - are spun off. First rumour (care of e-tid) is that UBS has been appointed to float Orbitz in London at a valuation of US$2.5-$3bil. Why London? Best reason I can think of is to avoid Sarbanes-Oxley regulation. London is liquid enough a market to provide the same capital value as New York or Nasdaq while removing the onerous/costly burden of SOX compliance.

UPDATE - in related Travelport news here is an interview with Graham Nichols (Worldspan vice president and general manager EMEA) on the merger between Worldspan and Galileo. The questions I most want to ask is "What is the future of the Worldspan brand?". Here is Graham's answer (or non-answer as the case may be)

Should the merger proceed as expected, Worldspan will become a Travelport company and will operate under its own brand, similar to how Galileo currently operates. Until we are merged we will operate as two separate companies.