First in PH: Hotel 101 gets ticket to Nasdaq

Edgar Injap Sia —FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — Hotel101 Global Pte. Ltd., the Singapore-based unit of DoubleDragon Corp., is set to merge with Nasdaq Stock Exchange-listed JVSPAC Acquisition Corp., a deal that is expected to unlock $2.3 billion in valuation for the hotel chain developer that aims to be the first Filipino company to list on the tech-heavy American bourse.

JVSPAC is a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) headquartered in Hong Kong that was formed in 2021 mainly for executing business mergers. Although SPACs, also known as blank-check companies, are publicly traded, these do not yet have established business plans.

Hotel101 on Monday said the merger would mainly be a “business combination transaction” to form an entity that would be listed under the ticker symbol “HBNB.”

Merging with SPAC—similar to how Singapore super app had gained entry to Nasdaq in 2021—is similar to backdoor-listing but the funds are raised ahead of the market debut.Still subject to regulatory and shareholder approvals, the merger is expected to be completed in the second half of the year.

READ: DoubleDragon’s Hotel101 nears US Nasdaq listing

DoubleDragon, the property venture of tycoons Edgar Sia II and Tony Tan Caktiong that owns the Hotel101 chain, also expects Hotel101 Global to “become a major brand, concept and business model export of the Philippines.”

‘Deep pool of liquidity’

Juan Paolo Colet, managing director at investment bank China Bank Capital Corp., noted that the Nasdaq listing could attract more investors for Hotel101, allowing more capital to come in and bankroll its expansion plans while easing pressures for DoubleDragon to infuse more equity into its subsidiary.

“This deal will give Hotel101 access to the deep pool of liquidity available in the US equity markets to fund the company’s aggressive growth plans,” Colet said in a Viber message.

READ: F1 shift boosts prospects of Double Dragon’s Hotel 101 Madrid

“They have an investment story that might be more appealing to offshore investors … so a Nasdaq listing should be good for them in terms of valuation and fundraising,” he added.

Hotel101 aims to have 1 million rooms across more than 100 countries. Outside the Philippines, its other priority countries for expansion are the United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, India, Australia, Canada, Turkiye and Italy.The condotel chain recently broke ground for its second international branch in Madrid, Spain, with 680 rooms. It is touted to become among the five largest hotels in Spain’s capital city.

The 482-room Hotel101-Niseko in Japan is currently under construction, while the company’s first branch in the United States is eyed for development in Los Angeles, California.

Locally, Hotel101 is preparing for the launch of Hotel101-Libis Bridgetowne, which is expected to be the largest hotel in Quezon City with 702 rooms. INQ