Three-Way Merger With HotelPlanner, Reservations.com And SPAC Is Abruptly Terminated

A three-way merger between the online travel-focused companies HotelPlanner and Reservations.com with Astrea Acquisition Corp. ASAXU, a publicly-traded special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), has been cancelled.

What Happened: In a joint press statement, the three companies said they “mutually agreed to terminate their previously announced business combination agreement. The termination is effective immediately.”

While no specific reason was cited for the cancelation, the statement added, “All three companies believe that terminating the business combination is the best path forward for all parties.”

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What Could Have Happened: When Astrea announced the merger last August, it was set forth that the combined company would operate as HotelPlanner under the new NASDAQ ticker symbol “HOTP.” The transaction was expected to occur in the fourth quarter of 2021, but as 2022 rolled around, it was still awaiting final approval.

In an interview last month with Benzinga, HotelPlanner CEO Tim Hentschel stated that going public would fulfill a longstanding corporate goal.

“When it comes to our commitment to go public, that comes from years and years of aspiration,” he said. “Our company will continue to grow as it's grown every year for the last 17 years, with the exception that we had the down year over 2020 with COVID. But we were only down by 23% and there were a lot of other travel companies down by over 50% in revenues.”

When the merger was first announced, Astrea CEO Felipe Gonzalez picked HotelPlanner as the company’s best choice.

“We analyzed a lot of companies as part of our investment process, and HotelPlanner stood out to us as a unique platform with tremendous potential to benefit from access to public markets,” he said, adding that “this transaction will provide the scale and capital to help further accelerate their growth trajectory and deliver exceptional shareholder value for decades to come.”

ASAXU Stock Action: At last check, Astrea shares were trading at $9.69, up 7.79%.

Photo: Pete Linforth / Pixabay