Liberty Buys Majority Stake in TripAdvisor

Eric Peirmont | AFP | Getty Images

Stephen Kaufer, US TripAdvisor President and CEO

Digital business holding company Liberty Interactive has purchased a bulk of stock in TripAdvisor, giving it voting control over the web travel operator, both companies announced on Tuesday.

In a statement, the companies stated that Liberty had purchased about 4.7 million common shares from Barry Diller — the chairman of IAC/Interactive and the foundation bearing his name. As part of the deal, Diller's ownership stake in TripAdvisor has been terminated, granting Liberty a controlling stake.

As a result, Liberty now owns more than 18 million common shares and an additional 12.8 million Class B stock, which adds up to 22 percent of the equity and 57 percent of the total votes of TripAdvisor's common stock.