Hotel101 Global secures Nasdaq listing in June
Closing of the merger between Hotel101 and JVSPAC Acquisition Corp. is expected 'as soon as possible,' subject to regulatory and shareholder approvals and other customary closing conditions. As a result, Hotel101 will be worth $2.3 billion or P130 billion.
Listed on the Nasdaq, JVSPAC is a blank check company led by its chairman and chief executive officer Albert Wong, who has been the chief executive officer and director of Kingsway Group Holdings, the sole distributor of Lamborghini in Hong Kong, Macau, and Guangzhou.
Kingsway is also the lone distributor of Koenigsegg Automotive, Rimac Automobili, and Bugatti Automobiles for China, including Hong Kong and Macau.
Upon listing, the combined entity will operate as Hotel101 Global Holdings Corp., which will be traded under the ticker symbol 'HBNB,' making it the first Filipino-owned company listed and traded on the Nasdaq.
Hotel101's first three overseas projects are located in Niseko, Hokkaido, Japan; Madrid, Spain; and Los Angeles, California, in the United States.
It seeks to expand in areas such as the United Kingdom, the United Arab Emirates, India, Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Cambodia, Bangladesh, Mexico, South Korea, Australia, Canada, Switzerland, Turkey, Italy, Germany, France, and China.
It targets to accumulate a portfolio of 1 million rooms in 101 countries before 2050.
The company last week said it had partnered with the Horizon Group to develop up to 10,000 rooms in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, expected to translate to a $2.5-billion or P137.5-billion project value.
Hotel101's parent company DoubleDragon is led by chairman Edgar 'Injap' Sia II and co-chairman Tony Tan Caktiong. —VBL, GMA Integrated News
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
GMA Network
16 hours ago
- GMA Network
Senate's proposed 2026 budget slashed by nearly half at P7.5 billion
The Senate has a proposed budget of P7.5 billion for next year under the National Expenditure Program (NEP)—a far cry from its P13.9-billion budget for 2025. Based on the 2026 NEP submitted by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), the upper chamber initially proposed a P9.67-billion budget for 2025, but it was reduced to P7.52 billion upon final recommendation. The Senate received a P13.93-billion budget under the 2025 General Appropriations Act (GAA). The upper chamber's proposed 2026 budget was almost equally divided for its maintenance and other operating expenses (MOOE) and personnel services, amounting to P3.77 billion and P3.74 billion, respectively. No budget was allocated for the Senate's confidential, intelligence, and extraordinary expenses as in previous years. There was also zero allocation for its capital outlays on the 2026 NEP. The DBM on Wednesday afternoon turned over the copy of the P6.793-trillion 2026 NEP to the Senate, which was personally received by Senate President Francis "Chiz" Escudero. On the same day, the Senate adopted in the plenary Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 4, subject to style, which seeks to establish transparency and accountability in the passage of the national budget. The concurrent resolution mandates that budget documents such as the General Appropriations Bill (GAB), Bicameral Conference Committee Report, and transcripts of bicam meetings be uploaded on both the websites of the Senate and the House of Representatives. It also provides that both Houses of Congress ensure that all budget deliberations, including budget briefings, public hearings, plenary discussions, and bicameral conference committee meetings be accessible to the public via digital live streaming. The public will likewise be given a platform on the websites to communicate their analyses, suggestions, and feedback on the national budget. — VDV, GMA Integrated News
GMA Network
17 hours ago
- GMA Network
Poor planning, not climate change sinking Metro Manila —urban planner Palafox
Metro Manila's annual floods are often blamed on climate change — but for architect and urban planner Felino 'Jun' Palafox Jr., it's just an easy excuse masking decades of government inaction. 'Climate change is real. But it is not the main reason Metro Manila is underwater every year,' Palafox said. 'If we had acted on the plans we've had since the 1970s, our cities would be far more resilient today, even with stronger storms," he said. Palafox, whose four-decade career spans 45 countries and more than 1,700 projects, said the worsening floods are a man-made disaster, driven less by nature than by political short-sightedness. He estimates there are at least 150 flood control recommendations — prepared by local and international experts — that remain unimplemented. Shelved solutions Among the most prominent is the Parañaque Spillway, a project first included in the Metro Manila Flood Control Master Plan in the 1970s. Designed to channel excess water from Laguna Lake to Manila Bay during heavy rains, it would have prevented the backflow that inundates Marikina, Pasig, Taguig, and other lakeshore communities. 'It's been in every master plan for 50 years,' Palafox said. 'But it was never built. Instead, we keep studying the same problem while people suffer the same floods.' Another abandoned initiative was the Laguna Lake Rehabilitation Project with a Belgian firm. It aimed to dredge the lake by half a meter, restoring its floodwater storage capacity and reducing siltation from surrounding rivers. The Aquino administration canceled it in 2010, leading to a P1-billion penalty after the Philippines lost in international arbitration, and no alternative project was pursued. Other countries moved, PH stalled Palafox said the non-implementation of the flood control programs was not a question of technical capacity. In the Netherlands, the Delta Works system of polders, dikes, and surge barriers has kept low-lying land dry for decades. Japan's Metropolitan Area Outer Underground Discharge Channel — a 6.3-kilometer network of tunnels with cathedral-like underground tanks — diverts typhoon floodwaters away from Tokyo. Closer to home, Vietnam has invested in large-scale flood control canals in Ho Chi Minh City, while Thailand manages monsoon flows through the Chao Phraya Dam system. 'These countries didn't wait for perfect conditions,' Palafox said. 'They started building. That's why they're ahead of us.' In the Philippines, Palafox says, the real obstacle is political discontinuity. Flood control projects often require 10 to 15 years to complete — far beyond a president's six-year term. 'That's the problem — we plan for six years, not for the next generation,' he said. 'Flood control doesn't get ribbon-cutting ceremonies. It's mostly underground, invisible. So politicians don't prioritize it.' The result: Metro Manila still depends on 1970s-era pumping stations, narrow and silted rivers, and a drainage network overwhelmed by rapid urban sprawl. Natural floodplains have been paved over for development, while informal settlements block critical waterways. The cost of delay With climate change intensifying storms, the stakes are rising. Typhoons Ondoy (2009), Ulysses (2020), and Carina (2024) displaced millions, killed hundreds, and caused tens of billions of pesos in damage. Even moderate rains now trigger flash floods, crippling transportation and commerce. 'Every year we delay, we pay the price — in lives lost, property destroyed, and businesses disrupted,' Palafox warned. 'Climate change is a factor, but our failure to prepare turns storms into disasters.' Palafox then called for legislation that would protect long-term infrastructure plans from being scrapped by succeeding administrations. He also urged the immediate revival of completed feasibility studies for flood control, drainage improvement, and urban water management. 'We cannot control the rain,' he said. 'But we can control how prepared we are. Stop using climate change as an excuse. Start building what we've been planning for 50 years," he added.—LDF, GMA Integrated News
GMA Network
2 days ago
- GMA Network
2nd San Juanico bridge project gets P10B under 2026 NEP
The 2nd San Juanico bridge project in Tacloban City has been allocated P10 billion under the P6.793-trillion National Expenditure Program for 2026. The said project was included in the Department of Public Works and Highways' (DPWH) over P881.3-billion allocation for next year. The expenditure program for 2026 recently submitted by Malacanang to Congress showed that the second San Juanico bridge project is a Japan International Cooperation Agency-assisted project. DPWH Secretary Manuel Bonoan earlier said the government plans to build a new bridge adjacent to the existing San Juanico Bridge, which would be about 2.6 kilometers long. A flagship project of the Marcos administration, Bonoan hoped that the detailed engineering design would be completed by 2026 and the construction would follow immediately. A three-ton load limit had been imposed on the San Juanico Bridge since May this year after an assessment showed significant structural compromises to the bridge. The President had said more than P500 million has already been allocated for the San Juanico Bridge's repair. DPWH said it is expediting the repairs to increase its load limit to 12 - 15 tons by December this year. Built in 1969 and completed in 1973, the San Juanico Bridge is the third-longest bridge spanning a body of seawater in the Philippines, connecting the islands of Samar and Leyte. —LDF, GMA Integrated News
