Post the colossal acquisition of ibibo Group by MakeMyTrip, people have started defining the future of its rival platforms as bleak. But the co-founder of its closest rival Yatra.com today took center stage at the World Startup Expo to discuss their vision and unexpectedly share deeds about its listing as well. Sabina Chopra, the co-founder of Yatra, also shared her views on the aforementioned merger.
For those unaware, Yatra’s $218 million reverse merger with Terrapin 3 was accompanied with the news of the travel company gaining a listing on NASDAQ. During that time, it had been stated that Yatra will list on the stock exchange, once the merger has been finalized. And that listing date seems to be nearing with each passing day.
As Terrapin 3 is gearing up to hold a shareholders meeting on December 12 to secure final approval for its business combination with Yatra’s online travel agency. Chopra has confirmed to our on-ground coverage team that the company is aggressively pushing ahead and plans to list on NASDAQ in mid-December, favorably before 20th December.
As a result of the merger, Yatra expects its common stock and warrants to be listed on the NASDAQ stock market under the symbols YTRA and YTRAW, respectively. The shares and warrants of Terrapin, on the other hand, will be converted to ordinary shares of Yatra on a one-for-one basis in the coming months. This means every Terrapin shareholder will receive new Yatra stock in the coming months.
In addition, Chopra has also answered the big fat question we were itching to receive an answer to. Sharing her views on the merger of two of the largest travel businesses in India, she referred to it as a good news for the travel industry of the country. She believes this acquisition reiterates the fact that people are now taking the industry seriously and Yatra is aggressively moving towards a healthy competition.
With this transaction, the company has gained additional resources to support growth and improvement of its mobile and web platforms. It is on expanding its already extensive network of domestic and international partnerships with hotels, airlines, car services and tour package promoters. Post the closure of its merger, the company will continue to operate as an individual entity and is banking on their online as well as offline presence in the country to compete against its primary rival MakeMyTrip.
Post the closure of its merger, Yatra will continue to operate as an individual entity and is banking on their online as well as offline presence in the country to compete against its primary rival MakeMyTrip. Commenting on the same, Chopra mentioned,
Yatra is a multi-fold company. We are not just present online but also have an offline presence, along with b2b selling. So that provides us competence in the market.
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