Starboard's Smith says Tripadvisor should consider selling its restaurant booking platform

By Svea Herbst-Bayliss NEW YORK (Reuters) -Starboard Value CEO Jeff Smith said Tuesday Tripadvisor should consider selling its restaurant booking platform TheFork and possibly the entire company. Smith, speaking at the annual 13D Monitor Active Passive Investment Summit in New York, said Tripadvisor has an "amazing" brand, but "there is a huge opportunity to transform and reimagine the user experience to improve revenue growth."  The company allows customers to find and review hotels. Its Viator unit lets users book and review tours and other experiences, while TheFork offers restaurant reservation services. "We believe TheFork, the most easily separable and least-integrated of the three businesses, could be sold at an attractive multiple," Smith said. At the end of the presentation, he said there may even be an opportunity to sell the entire company. "There are standalone opportunities for value creation at each of the Tripadvisor three businesses as well as opportunity to potentially sell TheFork or the entire company." Starboard has been engaging with Tripadvisor for several weeks and this was the first time Smith has discussed his team's thesis publicly. His hedge fund is pressing for change at the travel booking site after building a 9% stake in the company earlier this year. "TripAdvisor is too cheap for a company that is growing," he said.  He said Viator's performance should improve meaningfully, noting that booking experiences is the fastest-growing segment in the travel industry. To transform Tripadvisor, Smith said, "we believe there is a substantial cost savings opportunity at Brand Tripadvisor, especially if revenue growth does not accelerate." (Reporting by Svea Herbst-Bayliss. Editing by Dawn Kopecki and Chizu Nomiyama)

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