HotelPlanner.com, Reservations.com Going Public Via SPAC: What Investors Should Know

A SPAC announced a merger Tuesday to bring several hospitality websites public. Here are the details of the merger and how the company could be a reopening play.

The SPAC Deal: HotelPlanner and Reservations.com will merge with Astrea Acquisition Corp ASAX. The deal values the combined company at $567.1 million.

The company will trade as HotelPlanner with the ticker HOTP after the merger is complete.

About the Company: The combined company will own the brands that include HotelPlanner.com, Meetings.com and Reservations.com.

Together, the websites offer access to book over 1 million global properties. The company uses a proprietary, cloud-based technology platform for bookings and offers a 24/7 global customer service platform.

HotelPlanner offers “Closed User Group” rates to customers, which the company calls a differentiating factor to competition.

HotelPlanner.com was launched in 2004 and is one of the largest online group hotel booking platforms globally.

Meetings.com was acquired by the company in 2013 and is a leader in the online meeting and event booking market.

Reservations.com launched in 2014 and had over 1 million hotel stays booked in 2019.

Related Link: 5 SPACs To Watch In The Second Half Of 2021

Growth Ahead: The company said it will transform the hotel and event booking space with complementary revenue streams through the three way merger.

Together, the companies see multiple revenue and cost synergies helping to drive higher growth and scale.

HotelPlanner had a 23% decline in revenue during the pandemic in 2020, which was less of a decline than what others in the industry saw.

The company said it will use proceeds from the transaction towards marketing and investments in artificial intelligence and machine learning.

Financials: The company sees revenue in fiscal 2021 to come in ahead of its 2019 record total. Fiscal 2022 revenue is estimated at $170 million.

The company sees revenue growing at a compounded annual growth rate of 42% from fiscal 2020 to fiscal 2023.

Price Action; ASAX shares were up 1.13% to $9.81 on Tuesday.