Kayak floats higher as IPO raises $91 mln

Shares in Kayak lifted higher Friday after the online travel group's long-delayed initial public offering raised some $91 million. Under the trading symbol KYAK, Kayak soared 31 percent to $34.20 after the IPO offered 3.5 million shares at $26. The IPO for Kayak, which allows consumers to compare fares across different travel sites, was among the first in the tech sector after a fiasco in May with Facebook's offering. Kayak first announced its IPO in 2010, but delayed the offered amid a weak economy and concern about Google's purchase of flight information company ITA Software. Kayak Software Corporation was created in 2004 by travel sites Expedia, Travelocity and Orbitz "to take a different approach" by allowing consumers to compare hundreds of travel sites at once on the Web or through mobile apps. The site, which produced $8.1 million in operating income on $73.3 million in revenue in the quarter to March 31, handled 310 million user queries for travel during that period. For 2011, it had a profit of $9.7 million on revenue of $224 million. The Connecticut-based company has 185 employees and sites in 15 countries, including the United States, Germany, France, Britain and Italy. Kayak said one of the "risks" to its outlook is Google with the ITA travel information service, which could take away customers and controls a key database.