2 days ago
Nasdaq-bound Hotel101 eyes expansion into Latin America, Oceania, CEO says
SINGAPORE, June 6 (Reuters) - Hotel101 Global, a unit of Philippine-listed real estate company DoubleDragon ( opens new tab, is looking to expand into Latin America and Oceania in addition to growing its presence in existing regions including Asia, its CEO Hannah Yulo-Luccini told Reuters on Friday. Last month, Hotel101 entered into a partnership with Saudi Arabia-based Horizon Group to build 10,000 rooms or 20 hotels across the Kingdom, marking its fourth destination outside of the Philippines and after Japan, Spain and the U.S. CONTEXT Hotel101 is due to list on Nasdaq following a merger with a Nasdaq-listed special purpose acquisition company JVSPAC Acquisition Corp (JVSA.O), opens new tab that puts Hotel101 equity value at $2.3 billion. Both companies on Monday had obtained regulatory nod to proceed. JVSPAC is a publicly listed shell that raises funds to merge with a private entity. WHY IS IT IMPORTANT Upon listing, the combined company will operate as Hotel101 and will become the first Philippine-owned company to be listed and traded on Nasdaq, which the CEO says will help it with its international expansion.
DETAILS Singapore-headquartered Hotel101 builds and operates hotels with standardized, 21 square metre rooms that it sells individually to investors. Its asset-light business model generates revenue first from room sales and then from the recurring income from day-to-day hotel operations.
KEY QUOTES: "This whole process of becoming a Nasdaq-listed company has really allowed us to really have that global credibility as we expand the brand to 25 countries in the near term," Yulo-Luccini said. "Other than the Saudi JV, we're actually working on five more hotel JVs."
