Shares of Needham-based online travel site Tripadvisor dropped as much as 38 percent in Wednesday trading after the company backed away from a possible acquisition.
In February, Tripadvisor said its board had formed a committee to consider proposals to buy the company. But Tripadvisor said on Wednesday that “the Special Committee has determined that at this time, there is no transaction with a third party that is in the best interests of the Company and its stockholders.”
The company said it was still open to the possibility of a deal, but doesn’t plan to comment further “unless it has something definitive to share.” (Analysts in February had pointed to a potential buyer: New York private equity firm Certares Management, which owns a stake in Tripadvisor.)
Tripadvisor also announced a first-quarter loss of 43 cents a share, largely due to a $42 million payment to the Internal Revenue Service to resolve an income tax dispute.
The travel company’s chief executive Matt…