Kayak IPO soars at $30.10, up from an initial price of $26

After a long delay, travel search site Kayak finally started trading on the NASDAQ this morning and saw its stock jump 14 percent to $30.10.

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Kayak last night priced its IPO at $26, above its prior range of $23 to $25, Bloomberg reports. Trading this morning reached a high of $33.65 at the time of this post (and it’s still rising), according to NASDAQ’s figures.

The company managed to raise $91 million by selling 3.5 million shares, and with this morning’s trading performance it’s now worth $1 billion. The IPO was led by Morgan Stanley and Deutsche Bank Securities, with underwriters Piper Jaffray, Stifel Nicolaus, and Pacific Crest.

Eight-year-old Kayak offers a way to easily search for cheap flights, hotels, and car rentals. The company faces competition from other travel sites like Microsoft’s Expedia, Travelocity, and hot travel startup Hipmunk. Judging from recent LinkedIn updates, it also looks like the company is eyeing an expansion into Russia.

Kayak originally filed to go public back in November 2010, but it held off due to shaky markets and earnings. Later rumors indicated it would follow Facebook’s public offering, but the controversy around that stock forced yet another delay. As the first Internet company to go public after Facebook, the company’s stock will be closely watched by analysts and technology firms alike.

Norwalk, Conn.-based Kayak previously raised $223 million from investors including Accel Partners, Sequoia Capital, General Catalyst Partners, Lehman Brothers, Norwest Venture Partners, and Aol.

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