SPACs and the future of travel investing

This article was originally published on PhocusWire.com

In the fourth quarter of 2020, the travel industry witnessed a frenzy of businesses planning to go public via special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs).

Big names in Asia, such as Grab, and smaller, newer entities in other locations such as Sonder and HomeToGo, jumped on board with sponsor/investor companies to seek a listing on the public markets.

Fast forward a year and the pace has abated slightly, with only one or two having achieved a listing so far. But it seems investors are still waiting in the wings to find the right target.

During a session at The Phocuswright Conference 2021 this week, a session on SPACs and the Future of Travel Investment put the spotlight on the benefits and pitfalls of using the mechanism to go public.

Panelists, which included investors and a travel company in the process of going to market via a SPAC, also took the audience through importance of finding the right partner from both standpoints.

Joining the panel, hosted by Charuta Fadnis, senior vice president for research and product strategy at Phocuswright, were:

• Chris Hemmeter, managing director at Thayer Ventures
• John Prince, co-founder and president at HotelPlanner
• Christoph Schuh, partner at Lakestar

The full session is featured below.