Reservations.com and HotelPlanner just announced an agreement on a three-way merger with Astrea Acquisition Corp. to go public and to be listed on NASDAQ.
The new special agreement will welcome Reservations.com into the HotelPlanner family of brands, which includes HotelPlanner.com, Meetings.com and now Reservations.com.
The newly combined company has a forecasted 2022 revenue of around $170 million and is expecting a 3 year revenue CAGR of approximately 42% and with blank-check firm combined, be valued around $685 million.
The growth potential for HotelPlanner is a reality and they hope to establish public investors as the merger brings to the table a large and stablished customer-service system and discounted group rates. The idea is to accelerate organic growth by continuing to increase effectiveness in marketing spending, investments in machine learning, innovations and API services.
As the Wall Street Journal previously published, HotelPlanner, Reservations.com and the SPAC were nearing an agreement but now it is closer than ever.
SPACs have exploded as faster IPO alternatives in the past few years. A SPAC is a shell company that raises money and lists on an exchange to merge with a private firm and take it public. The private company then replaces the SPAC in the stock market and is allowed to make business projections when going public.
HotelPlanner plans to use some of the money held by the SPAC to cover the transaction costs and compensate existing investors who are selling a small portion of their stakes. Current investors are still expected to own most of the company. The top companies in the online travel industry will be listed on NASDAQ under the new ticker symbol “HOTP.”