Yatra, an India-based online travel agency backed by corporates Intel, Network18 and International Data Group, agreed yesterday to merge with US-listed special purpose vehicle Terrapin 3 Acquisition Corporation.
The deal transaction will value Yatra at $208m, less than half that at which conglomerate Reliance Industries reportedly sold its stake in late 2014.
Founded in 2006, Yatra runs an online travel agency that allows users to book air travel, package holidays, hotels, bus and railway tickets. Its customers booked more than 2.8 million plane tickets and hotel rooms through the platform in the fiscal year ending March 2016.
Terrapin 3 raised approximately $213m in its initial public offering, and an affiliate of Macquarie Capital has agreed to invest another $20m as part of the merger deal.
The first $100m will be used to pay transaction expenses or will be added to the merged company’s balance sheet, while any amount larger than that will be split 80-20 between Yatra’s existing shareholders, which will hold at least 35% of the new business, and the joint company’s balance sheet.
Yatra’s shareholders could secure up to $35m more if certain milestones are met in the first 18 month after the deal.
Yatra has received about $125m in venture funding, including $23m from an April 2014 round co-led by IDG subsidiary IDG Ventures India and Vertex Venture Holdings that also included Intel’s Intel Capital unit, media firm Network18, Norwest Venture Partners (NVP) and Reliance Venture Asset Management, a subsidiary of Reliance.
Reliance Capital, Network18 and NVP provided the company’s initial funding in 2006, before Intel Capital made a strategic investment in the company two years later. Yatra raised $45m from Intel Capital, NVP and Valiant Capital Management in 2011.
Intel Capital, Reliance Capital, Network18, Valiant Capital and NVP then contributed to a $14.5m series D round in 2012.
Deutsche Bank Securities is Terrapin3’s capital markets advisor for the transaction, while Greenberg Traurig and Ellenoff Grossman & Schole are its representatives. Goodwin Procter is representing Yatra.