HotelPlus, a software supplier with clients in 22 countries, has been bought by HotelOnline, a Kenya-based Yanolja-backed travel technology scale-up that bills itself as an e-commerce and digital marketing enabler in the hotel business.

The precise details of the transaction were not released, but Eric Muliro, who created HotelPlus in Kenya 13 years ago, would get a compensation as well as $1.9 million in HotelOnline shares, which were valued at $24 million prior to the transaction. Muliro will also serve as HotelOnline’s chief technology officer.

Why The Acquisition 

HotelOnline stated that the transaction boosted its client base by over 2,200 and opened the way for new consumers and innovative capabilities such as payment solutions, AI-driven pricing, and revenue management.

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“We are significantly increasing our client base, while capitalizing on the combined strengths of both companies, creating a force to reckon with in East Africa’s hospitality industry,” HotelOnline co-founder, said. 

“Because the HotelPlus client-base currently uses on-premise software, this creates a unique integration opportunity with our cloud solutions…We are creating a massive win-win situation for the HotelPlus clients, in other words,” said Bauck, who co-founded HotelOnline with Endre Opdal in 2014.

Trond Riiber Knudsen of the TRK Group, an Oslo-based venture capital firm and an investor in HotelOnline, said in a statement, “A deal like this helps build a strong African travel-tech player, with a local and continental foothold. This is a key part of what we aim to contribute to through our stake in HotelOnline. We see great potential in the new company, and we look forward to the journey from here.”

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The transaction comes months after HotelOnline concluded a Series A fundraising round led by Yanolja earlier this year, a first in Africa for the SoftBank and Booking.com-backed South Korean travel technology startup. Yanolja, which has over 43,000 clients in 170 markets, provides cloud-based solutions for lodging, restaurants, and residences.

With Yanolja’s backing, HotelOnline now has the financial clout to strike partnerships and make investments that will help it develop and expand in its current and target countries. Tore Hofstad, Stratel AS, and a group of Nigerian angel investors are among HotelOnline’s other investors.

A Look At What HotelOnline Does

HotelOnline assists hotels in establishing and increasing their internet exposure in order to reach a larger consumer base. It assists its clients in deploying booking engines and increasing their visibility on distribution channels like as Booking.com, as well as arming them with the ability to manage operations on their own platforms utilising cloud-based digital tools such as property management systems. It also provides property management services to owners.

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HotelOnline stated that it intends to aggressively expand across Africa, where it presently has over 6,000 clients distributed across 27 countries, by using HotelPlus’ reseller network and the burgeoning hospitality business, which is rebounding successfully from the pandemic’s ravages. Its immediate strategy is to establish a dominant position in East Africa, as well as in Nigeria and Senegal, as it strives to become a big pan-African powerhouse.

“HotelPlus has built an impressive commercial organization, with skilled sales people, a high-performance reseller network covering more than a dozen countries across the continent. Integrating these resources, prepares the ground for our accelerated expansion in Africa,” said Bauck.

Charles Rapulu Udoh

Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer, who has several years of experience working in Africa’s burgeoning tech startup industry. He has closed multi-million dollar deals bordering on venture capital, private equity, intellectual property (trademark, patent or design, etc.), mergers and acquisitions, in countries such as in the Delaware, New York, UK, Singapore, British Virgin Islands, South Africa, Nigeria etc. He’s also a corporate governance and cross-border data privacy and tax expert. 
As an award-winning writer and researcher, he is passionate about telling the African startup story, and is one of the continent’s pioneers in this regard. You can book a session and speak with him using the link: https://insightsbyexpert