Apollo Global Management, Inc. (NYSE:APO) has expressed interest in exploring a bid for travel information service Tripadvisor, Inc. (NasdaqGS:TRIP), according to people familiar with the matter. TripAdvisor, part of John Malone's Liberty Media empire, has been working with advisers after receiving takeover interest, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the deliberations were private. The deliberations are at an early stage and may not lead to an agreement, the people said.

A spokesperson for Apollo declined to comment. A representative for TripAdvisor didn't respond to requests for comment. TripAdvisor's shares, which have climbed 25% in the past year, fell 0.3% to $26.59 at 10:01 a.m. in New York trading on March 6, 2024, giving it an equity market value of $3.7 billion.

Including net debt, the company, based in Needham, Massachusetts, is valued at about $3.5 billion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Liberty TripAdvisor Holdings Inc. is the company's largest shareholder, controlling 21.1% of TripAdvisor's stock and 56.9% of the voting power in the company, based on a Feb. 9 filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

BlackRock Inc. and Vanguard Group Inc. also each hold stakes of more than 10% in TripAdvisor, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Last month, TripAdvisor announced it was forming a special committee to evaluate any proposals that may be brought forward for a potential deal after the company's board authorized talks on a possible acquisition.