Exhibit
(a)(1)(F)
IMMEDIATE
ATTENTION REQUIRED
December 11, 2006
Re: Expedia,
Inc. Tender Offer
Dear Expedia Retirement Savings Plan Participant:
The enclosed tender offer materials and Direction Form require
your immediate attention. Our records reflect that, as a
participant in the Expedia Retirement Savings Plan (the
Plan), all or a portion of your individual account
is invested in the Expedia, Inc. Stock Fund (the Stock
Fund). The tender offer materials describe an offer by
Expedia, Inc. to purchase up to 30,000,000 shares of its
common stock, par value $.001 per share (the
Shares), at a price not greater than $18.50 nor less
than $22.00 per share, net to the seller in cash, without
interest (the Offer). As described below, you have
the right to instruct Fidelity Management Trust Company
(Fidelity), as trustee of the Plan, concerning
whether to tender Shares attributable to your individual account
under the Plan. You will need to complete the enclosed
Direction Form and return it to Fidelitys tabulator in the
enclosed return envelope so that it is RECEIVED by
4:00 p.m., New York City time, on Friday, January 5,
2007, unless the Offer is extended, in which case the deadline
for receipt of instructions will be three business days prior to
the expiration date of the Offer, if feasible.
The remainder of this letter summarizes the transaction, your
rights under the Plan and the procedures for completing and
submitting the Direction Form. You should also review the more
detailed explanation provided in the Offer to Purchase, dated
December 11, 2006 (the Offer to Purchase),
enclosed with this letter.
BACKGROUND
Expedia, Inc. (Expedia) has made an Offer to its
stockholders to tender up to 30,000,000 shares of its
common stock, par value $.001 per share, for purchase by
Expedia at a price not greater than $18.50 nor less than
$22.00 per share, net to the seller in cash, without
interest, upon the terms and subject to the conditions set forth
in the enclosed Offer to Purchase. Expedia will select the
lowest purchase price that will allow it to purchase
30,000,000 Shares or, if a lesser number of Shares are
properly tendered, all Shares that are properly tendered and not
withdrawn. All Shares acquired in the Offer will be acquired at
the same purchase price regardless of whether the stockholder
tendered at a lower price.
The enclosed Offer to Purchase sets forth the objectives, terms
and conditions of the Offer and is being provided to all of
Expedias stockholders. To understand the Offer fully and
for a more complete description of the terms and conditions of
the Offer, you should carefully read the entire Offer to
Purchase.
The Offer extends to the Shares held by the Plan. As of
December 6, 2006, the Plan had approximately
67,549 Shares allocated to participant accounts. Only
Fidelity, as trustee of the Plan, can tender these Shares in the
Offer. Nonetheless, as a participant under the Plan, you have
the right to direct Fidelity whether or not to tender some or
all of the Shares attributable to your individual account in the
Plan, and at what price or prices. Unless otherwise required by
applicable law, Fidelity will tender Shares attributable to
participant accounts in accordance with participant instructions
and Fidelity will not tender Shares attributable to participant
accounts for which it does not receive timely instructions.
If you do not complete the enclosed Direction Form and return
it to Fidelitys tabulator on a timely basis, you will be
deemed to have elected not to participate in the Offer and no
Shares attributable to your Plan account will be tendered.
LIMITATIONS
ON FOLLOWING YOUR DIRECTION
The enclosed Direction Form allows you to specify the percentage
of the Shares attributable to your account that you wish to
tender and the price or prices at which you want to tender
Shares attributable to your account. As detailed below, when
Fidelity tenders Shares on behalf of the Plan, they may be
required to tender Shares on terms different than those set
forth on your Direction Form.
The Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended
(ERISA), and the trust agreement between Expedia and
Fidelity prohibit the sale of Shares to Expedia for less than
adequate consideration which is defined by ERISA for
a publicly traded security as the prevailing market price on a
national securities exchange. Fidelity will determine
adequate consideration, based on the prevailing or
closing market price of the Shares on the New York Stock
Exchange on or about the date the Shares are tendered by
Fidelity (the prevailing market price). Accordingly,
depending on the prevailing market price
of the Shares on such date, Fidelity may be unable to follow
participant directions to tender Shares to Expedia at certain
prices within the offered range. Fidelity will tender or not
tender Shares as follows:
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If the prevailing market price is greater than the maximum
tender price offered by Expedia ($22.00 per Share),
notwithstanding your direction to tender Shares in the Offer,
the Shares will not be tendered.
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If the prevailing market price is lower than the price at which
you direct Shares be tendered, notwithstanding the lower closing
market price, Fidelity will follow your direction both as to
percentage of Shares to tender and as to the price at which such
Shares are tendered.
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If the prevailing market price is greater than the price at
which you direct the Shares be tendered but within the range of
$18.50 to $22.00, Fidelity will follow your direction regarding
the percentage of Shares to be tendered, but will increase the
price at which such Shares are to be tendered to the lowest
tender price that is not less than prevailing market price.
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If the prevailing market price is within the range of $18.50 to
$22.00, for all shares directed to be tendered at the per
Share purchase price to be determined pursuant to the tender
offer, Fidelity will tender such Shares at the lowest
tender price that is not less than the prevailing market price.
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Unless otherwise required by applicable law, Fidelity will
not tender Shares for which it has received no direction, or for
which it has received a direction not to tender. Fidelity makes
no recommendation as to whether to direct the tender of Shares
or whether to refrain from directing the tender of Shares. EACH
PARTICIPANT OR BENEFICIARY MUST MAKE HIS OR HER OWN
DECISIONS.
CONFIDENTIALITY
To assure the confidentiality of your decision, Fidelity and
their affiliates or agents will tabulate the Direction Forms.
Neither Fidelity nor their affiliates or agents will make your
individual direction available to Expedia.
PROCEDURE
FOR DIRECTING TRUSTEE
Enclosed is a Direction Form which should be completed and
returned to Fidelitys tabulator. Please note that the
Direction Form indicates the number of Shares attributable to
your individual account as of December 6, 2006. However,
for purposes of the final tabulation, Fidelity will apply your
instructions to the number of Shares attributable to your
account as of January 5, 2007, or as of a later date if the
Offer is extended.
If you do not properly complete the Direction Form or do not
return it by the deadline specified, such Shares will be
considered NOT TENDERED.
To properly complete your Direction Form, you must do the
following:
(1) On the face of the Direction Form, check Box 1 or
2. CHECK ONLY ONE BOX:
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CHECK BOX 1 if you do not want the Shares attributable to your
individual account tendered for sale in accordance with the
terms of the Offer and simply want the Plan to continue holding
such Shares.
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CHECK BOX 2 in all other cases and complete the table
immediately below Box 2. Specify the percentage (in whole
numbers) of Shares attributable to your individual account that
you want to tender at each price indicated.
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You may direct the tender of Shares attributable to your account
at different prices. To do so, you must state the percentage (in
whole numbers) of Shares to be sold at each price by filling in
the percentage of such Shares on the line immediately before the
price. Also, you may elect to accept the per Share purchase
price to be determined pursuant to the tender offer, which will
result in receiving a price per Share as low as $18.50 or as
high as $22.00. Leave a given line blank if you want no Shares
tendered at that particular price. The total of the percentages
you provide on the Direction Form may not exceed 100%, but it
may be less than 100%. If this amount is less than 100%, you
will be deemed to have instructed Fidelity NOT to tender the
balance of the Shares attributable to your individual account.
(2) Date and sign the Direction Form in the space provided.
(3) Return the Direction Form in the enclosed return
envelope so that it is received by Fidelitys tabulator at
the address on the return envelope (P.O. Box 9142, Hingham,
MA 02043) not later than 4:00 P.M., New York City
time, on Friday, January 5, 2007, unless the Offer is
extended, in which case the participant deadline shall be three
business days prior to the expiration date of the Offer, if
feasible. If you wish to return the form by overnight courier,
please send it to Fidelitys tabulator at Tabulator, 60
Research Road, Hingham, MA 02043. Directions via facsimile will
not be accepted.
Your direction will be deemed irrevocable unless withdrawn by
4:00 p.m., New York City time, on Friday, January 5,
2007, unless the Offer is extended. In order to make an
effective withdrawal, you must submit a new Direction Form which
may be obtained by calling Fidelity at
(800) 835-5095.
Upon receipt of a new, completed and signed Direction Form, your
previous direction will be deemed canceled. You may direct the
re-tendering of any Shares attributable to your individual
account by obtaining an additional Direction Form from Fidelity
and repeating the previous instructions for directing tender as
set forth in this letter.
After the deadline above for returning the Direction Form to
Fidelitys tabulator, Fidelity and their affiliates or
agents will complete the tabulation of all directions. Fidelity
will tender the appropriate number of Shares on behalf of the
Plan.
Expedia will then buy all Shares, up to 30,000,000, that were
properly tendered through the Offer. If there is an excess of
Shares tendered over the exact number desired by Expedia, Shares
tendered pursuant to the Offer may be subject to proration, as
described in the Offer to Purchase. Any Shares attributable to
your account that are not purchased in the Offer will remain
allocated to your individual account under the Plan.
The preferential treatment of holders of fewer than
100 Shares, as described in the Offer to Purchase, will not
apply to participants in the Plan, regardless of the number of
Shares held within their individual accounts. Likewise, the
conditional tender of Shares, as described in the Offer to
Purchase, will not apply to the participants in the Plan.
EFFECT OF
TENDER ON YOUR ACCOUNT
If you direct Fidelity to tender some or all of the Shares
attributable to your Plan account, as of 4:00 p.m., New
York City time, on January 5, 2007, certain transactions
involving the Stock Fund attributable to your account, including
all exchanges out, loans, withdrawals and distributions, will be
prohibited until all processing related to the Offer has been
completed, unless the Offer is terminated or the completion date
is extended. (Balances in the Stock Fund will be utilized to
calculate amounts eligible for loans and withdrawals throughout
this freeze on the Stock Fund.) In the event that the Offer is
extended, the freeze on transactions involving the Stock Fund
will, if feasible, be temporarily lifted until three days prior
to the new completion date of the Offer, as extended, at which
time a new freeze on these transactions involving the Stock Fund
will commence. You can call Fidelity at
(800) 835-5095
to obtain updated information on expiration dates, deadlines and
Stock Fund freezes.
If you directed Fidelity to NOT tender any of the Shares
attributable to your account or you did not return your Trustee
Direction Form in a timely manner, you will continue to have
access to all transactions normally available to the Stock Fund,
subject to Plan rules.
INVESTMENT
OF PROCEEDS
For any Shares in the Plan that are tendered and purchased by
Expedia, Expedia will pay cash to the Plan. INDIVIDUAL
PARTICIPANTS IN THE PLAN WILL NOT, HOWEVER, RECEIVE ANY CASH
TENDER PROCEEDS DIRECTLY. ALL SUCH PROCEEDS WILL REMAIN IN THE
PLAN AND MAY BE WITHDRAWN ONLY IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE TERMS OF
THE PLAN.
Fidelity will invest proceeds received with respect to Shares
attributable to your account in the Fidelity Freedom Income Fund
as soon as administratively possible after receipt of proceeds.
Fidelity anticipates that the processing of participant accounts
will be completed five to seven business days after receipt of
these proceeds. You may call Fidelity at
(800) 835-5095
after the reinvestment is complete to learn the effect of the
tender on your account or to have the proceeds from the sale of
Shares which were invested in the Fidelity Freedom Income Fund
invested in other investment options offered under the Plan.
SHARES OUTSIDE
THE PLAN
If you hold Shares outside of the Plan, you will receive, under
separate cover, Offer materials to be used to tender those
Shares. Those Offer materials may not be used to direct
Fidelity to tender or not tender the Shares attributable to your
individual account under the Plan. Likewise, the tender of
Shares attributable to your individual account under the Plan
will not be effective with respect to Shares you hold outside of
the Plan. The direction to tender or not tender Shares
attributable to your individual account under the Plan may only
be made in accordance with the procedures in this letter.
Similarly, the enclosed Direction Form may not be used to tender
Shares held outside of the Plan.
FURTHER
INFORMATION
If you require additional information concerning the procedure
to tender Shares attributable to your individual account under
the Plan, please contact Fidelity at
(800) 835-5095.
If you require additional information concerning the terms and
conditions of the Offer, please call MacKenzie Partners, Inc.,
the Information Agent, toll free at
(800) 322-2885.
Sincerely,
Fidelity Management Trust Company