Liberty Interactive Files To Spin Off Stake In TripAdvisor

John Malone's Liberty Interactive Corp filed with regulators to spin off its stake in travel website TripAdvisor Inc and ownership of online retailer BuySeasons into a separate company valued at about $3 billion.

The new company, Liberty TripAdvisor Holdings Inc, will hold Liberty Interactive's 22 percent stake in TripAdvisor and 100 percent ownership of BuySeasons.

Liberty TripAdvisor will offer 72.6 million series A common shares valued at up to $3.07 billion and also offer 2.9 million series B common shares, Liberty Interactive said in a regulatory filing on Tuesday. (http://r.reuters.com/xux98v)

Malone, who is also the chairman of Liberty Media Corp and is known as the "King of Cable", is expected to own 29 percent of the voting shares in Liberty TripAdvisor.

Liberty TripAdvisor expects to list the A and B shares on the Nasdaq under the symbols "LTRPA" and "LTRPB".

Greg Maffei, currently chief executive of Liberty Interactive, will also head the new company.

Liberty Interactive announced the spin off in October, the same day it said it would split Liberty Interactive Corp into two new tracking stocks - QVC Group and Liberty Digital Commerce.

The company took control of TripAdvisor from veteran media mogul Barry Diller in 2012 and has a 57 percent voting interest in the online travel website.

Liberty Interactive's stake in TripAdvisor is valued at $2.65 billion based on the stock's Monday's closing price of $84.71 on the Nasdaq.

BuySeasons operates BuyCostumes.com, which sells costumes, accessories, seasonal decor and party supplies.

The new company is expected to have cash and cash equivalents of $50 million and debt of $400 million, Liberty Interactive said.

TripAdvisor will report first-quarter results later on Tuesday.