Orbitz Worldwide, an online travel marketplace providing reservations on airlines, hotels, rental cars and vacation packages, priced 34.0 million shares at $15 Thursday evening, a -12% discount to the midpoint of the proposed $16-$18 range. Although the company enjoys strong brand recognition and has shown improving profitability of late, investors may have demanded a discount because of intense competition in the space and the company's heavy debt load. Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs and Lehman Brothers headed the list of underwriters on the deal. Expect the stock to begin trading today on the NYSE under the symbol "OWW."
