IPO or not for ITN?

Those of you following the management evolution at Internet Travel Network – and who isn’t? – probably are wondering what the game of boardroom musical chairs will do to its expected initial public stock offering.

When ITN replaced president and CEO Ken Swanton with chairman Dick Whilden and relegated co-founders Dan Whaley and Bruce Yoxsimer to developmental roles, it seemed like an IPO would be out of the question for a while.

But think about it. Bringing Whilden back – he served as president for a short time before Swanton was picked – could be a signal that the venture capitalists underwriting ITN are getting impatient and anxious for an exit strategy.

Asked about the company’s post-shakeup intentions, ITN’s vice president of marketing, Lois Shore, said, “We have no plans to go public that we can discuss.”

And ITN’s Joe Witherspoon disagrees that anything unusual is happening in management ranks. “There’s a sound decisionmaking process taking place,” he said.

If ITN won’t talk, others will. Does a management crisis doom a public stock offering?

“Not always,” says Nenita Ostman, who operates Alert-IPO Online, an Internet service for new issues. “Sometimes a management shakeup can be good. It can make investors more confident in the company.”

An IPO is important not just for ITN but also for interactive travel as an industry. It’s been a while since the company got an infusion of venture capital. It will need cash soon to keep up with its competitors at Microsoft Corp. and the Sabre Group.

And the industry itself needs another well-established, publicly traded company, if for no other reason than to build up interactive travel’s legitimacy. ITN would serve as an excellent cornerstone for our business.

Can Whilden pull it off? There are those who believe so, citing his stint as executive vice president with TRW and his management experience in the communications and aerospace industries. Shore says his know-how in overseeing big projects will serve him well as ITN’s chief executive.

Others, speaking off the record, point to Whilden’s lack of travel industry experience and what some see as his less-than-charismatic leadership.

I asked Whilden to comment for this column. He e-mailed me a statement in which he didn’t address any of my questions.

Among his comments: “ITN will continue to maximize its strengths to secure our position in the expanding marketplace.”

I’m not surprised by this effective “no comment.” ITN is surely struggling with internal conflicts that observers can’t fully understand. Tensions between the propellorheads who remember the company’s days as a garage operation and the suits who are committed to turning ITN into an interactive travel powerhouse continue to run high.

Competition remains intense for customers and partnerships. Why would anyone want to talk to a reporter at a time like this?

In case you are tempted to write ITN off, don’t forget the stuff it is made of. The company pioneered the Web-based booking engine in 1995, and it was the first to offer real-time connections to the four major CRSs the following year. Early on, it refocused its strategy quickly, switching from emphasizing a leisure booking tool to concentrating on corporate bookings, and it now says it is concentrating again on leisure bookings.

Who knows what it may develop next. Or, for that matter, how this story will end.

Christopher Elliott is the author of Scammed: How to Save Your Money and Find Better Service in a World of Schemes, Swindles, and Shady Deals. Critics have called it “eye-opening” and “inspiring” — it’ll “grab your attention and won’t let go.” Order your copy now on Amazon, Barnes & Noble or iTunes.

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