Greek-owned Ithax merges with Mondee
Silicon Valley-headquartered Mondee will use Greek- and Cypriot-owned special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) Ithax in order be get listed on the Nasdaq market in New York.
Enjoying a capitalization of more than $1 billion, Mondee has created and operates a platform through which travel agents, companies and self-employed professionals in tourism can be directly interconnected in a network of more than 500 airlines and over 900,000 accommodation units.
Through artificial intelligence technology, platform users (over 50,000 clients of travel agencies, companies and tourists) receive exclusive and personalized information on the trip they want to make.
Ithax, which will contribute $300 million, will therefore merge with Mondee and the transaction will be completed in the first half of 2022. Once the transaction has been completed, Mondee’s shares will trade on the Nasdaq under the ticker “MOND.”
Ithax is a SPAC founded by Orestis Fintiklis (also the founder of Miami-based Ithaca Capital Partners, which specializes in tourism and properties) and the founders of the AXIA Ventures Group –Dimitris Athanasopoulos, Antonis Achilleoudis and Giorgos Linatsas, along with their partner Alexandros Argyros.
A SPAC’s purpose is to merge with a non-listed company which through a reverse merger will have its shares listed on the US stock market. Practically, this is a different way for a company to be listed than an initial public offering (IPO).
“Mondee’s vision is to transform the entire travel industry, as it offers ‘travel solutions in a box’ services through an extensive network of travel agents and gig-economy workers, corporate clients, and closed groups, offering them easy and automatic interconnection with air companies, hotels and additional tourism services,” said Prasad Gundumogula, founder and chief executive of Mondee. “The next step is for the firm to continue expanding its content supply, strengthening the options of hotels in holiday rentals and digitizing the cruise tourism and touring sections,” he added.
“Ithax has set out with a mission to cooperate with a consolidated leader in travel and hospitality, which applies an exceptionally revolutionary but proven correct business model, and has shown a huge increase in revenues and EBITDA. Mondee fits that description perfectly,” said Fintiklis.
