Nothing stands in the way of the billion dollar IPO of the travel startup HomeToGo. Its shareholders had unanimously given the green light for a merger with HomeToGo, announced the Spac (“Special Purpose Acquisition Company”) Lakestar, which was brought into being by financial investor Klaus Hommels, on the Monday after the extraordinary general meeting. However, 36.8 percent of the shareholders took advantage of the opportunity to offer their papers to Lakestar again. Compared to the recent US Spacs, this is an unusually low rate, it said. On Monday, the Lakestar shares were traded at 9.69 euros, i.e. below the issue price of 10.00 euros.
The IPO “through the back door”, at which HomeToGo is valued at 1.2 billion euros, is said to have taken place at the end of September.
The mediation platform will receive around 250 million euros as a result.
This gives the company "considerable financial leeway" to continue to grow and to "seize the opportunities that arise from the increasing demand for alternative holiday accommodation," said company founder and boss Patrick Andrae.
In February, the Lakestar-Spac was the first empty corporate shell to hit the floor in Frankfurt in more than a decade.
This was followed by 468 Spac, which has since merged with the toy manufacturer Boxine.
HomeToGo, based in Berlin, was founded in 2014. The marketplace for holiday apartments and houses is now active in 23 countries. Lakestar has already invested in HomeToGo in the past, which is said to have raised more than $ 170 million from donors. HomeToGo wants to turn over 80 million euros in the current year. From January to June it reached 30 million euros, 30 percent more than in the same period of the previous year.