FILE PHOTO: Tripadvisor app is seen on a smartphone in this illustration taken February 27, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
(Reuters) -Activist investor Starboard Value has built an over 9% stake in online travel firm Tripadvisor, a person familiar with the matter said on Wednesday.
News of Starboard's stake, which is valued at roughly $160 million, pushed Tripadvisor's share price up 7% in after hours trading.
The company, which offers search tools to find and review hotels and restaurants, has seen its share price drop roughly 15% in the last 12 months. In early 2024, Tripadvisor's board formed a special committee to explore options, including a possible sale.
Tripadvisor and Starboard, which often presses for operational changes at its targets, did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment. The Wall Street Journal first reported the news on Wednesday evening.
Starboard is one of the industry's busiest activist investors, and its chief executive officer, Jeffrey Smith, recently joined the board of consumer healthcare company Kenvue, the maker of Band-Aids and Tylenol.
The firm has also pushed for changes at pharmaceutical company Pfizer and design-software maker Autodesk.
The Wall Street Journal reported Starboard will likely make a 13D regulatory filing as soon as Thursday, a requirement for asset managers whose holdings exceed 5% in a particular company where they plan to push for changes.
(Reporting by Nathan Gomes in Bengaluru and Svea Herbst-Bayliss in New York; Editing by Alan Barona and Sonali Paul)
