Kayak Software shares debut 16 percent above initial price

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(Global Markets) - Shares of online travel company Kayak Software Corp (KYAK.O) opened 16 percent above their initial price in their market debut on Friday and posted further gains in the first consumer-oriented Internet IPO since Facebook Inc FB.N.

The Norwalk, Connecticut-based company opened NASDAQ trading at $30.10 after 3.5 million shares priced at $26.00. Kayak raised $91 million in its offering.

Shares continued rising and were at $32.83 in morning trading.

Kayak, which filed to go public in November 2010, was originally slated to launch its offering following Facebook's IPO in May. But those plans were pushed back after Facebook's shares fell and lost around a third of their value.

Kayak's debut is the latest in a strong week for IPOs. Shares of security software company Palo Alto Networks (PANW.N) soared 31 percent on Friday in their market debut. Teen retailer Five Below Inc (FIVE.O), meanwhile, saw shares rise more than 65 percent on their debut Thursday.

"Clearly there was damage done by Facebook but a high quality company with brand awareness can still get an extremely attractive premium," said Scott Sweet, senior managing partner with IPO Boutique.

In fiscal year 2011, Kayak's revenue rose 32 percent to $224.5 million. The company's net income grew 21 percent to $9.7 million.

Kayak, which uses a website and a mobile site to help consumers compare prices for airlines and hotels, faces competition from Google Inc (GOOG.O), Orbitz Worldwide Inc (OWW.N), Expedia Inc (EXPE.O), Travelocity and Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O).

Kayak's venture backers include Sequoia Capital, Accel Partners, General Catalyst Partners and Oak Investment Partners.

The IPO is being underwritten by Morgan Stanley, Deutsche Bank, Piper Jaffray, Stifel Nicolaus and Pacific Crest Securities.

(Reporting By Olivia Oran; Editing by Andrew Hay and Jim Marshall)