The company, whose shareholders include Blackstone Group LP, stands to benefit from the recovery in business and leisure travel as the global economy improves.

Travelport raised about $480 million after its offering of 30 million shares was priced at $16 per share, the top end of the expected range of $14-$16.

Travelport, which provides a travel commerce platform and technology services to travel agents, airlines, hotels and car rental companies, sold all of the shares on offer.

The travel and tourism industry is projected to grow to $11 trillion by 2024 from $7 trillion now, according to a report by the World Travel & Tourism Council, an industry body.

Travelport, which also counts Morgan Stanley funds among its shareholders, was bought in 2006 by Blackstone and Technology Crossover Ventures from Cendant Corp.

Blackstone's stake will drop to 6.90 percent from 9.54 percent after the offering, if the underwriters fully exercise their option.

The stake of Morgan Stanley funds will come down to 5.47 percent from 7.56 percent, while that of Angelo Gordon & Co funds will fall to 12.23 percent from 16.91 percent.

Travelport's directors and executives will hold a combined stake of 28.14 percent, down from 37.85 percent before the offering.

Travelport, which owned 37 percent of online travel company Orbitz Worldwide Inc until July and now holds less than 1 percent, scrapped its plans to list in London in 2010, citing poor market conditions.

Travelport's rivals include Saber Corp, Singapore-based Abacus International and Madrid-based Amadeus.

Airline ticketing technology provider Saber, which owns online travel agency Travelocity, also made a strong U.S. debut in April.

The net loss attributable to Travelport narrowed to $25 million in the six months ended June 30 from $129 million, a year earlier. Revenue rose about 3.5 percent to $1.12 billion.

The company said it would use net proceeds from the offering to repay debt. Travelport's long-term debt stood at about $3.21 billion as of June 30.

Travelport rose 5.4 percent to $16.87 at 1:49 p.m. in New York.

The stock opened at $17.69 and touched a high of $17.70. It was among the most traded stocks on the New York Stock Exchange, with nearly 7.8 million shares traded as of 11:56 a.m. Eastern time.