Fusion & Acquisition

🚀 Stratolaunch's Roc aircraft, a giant twin-fuselage hexa-engine, successfully launched and recovered the Talon-A2, a self-flying hypersonic glider rocket, on its second test flight, reaching speeds over Mach 5. The feat was achieved by the Mojave, California-based company, emphasizing Talon-A2's reusability after a successful attempt in December 2024. With an impressive wingspan of 117 meters, the Talon-A2 landed autonomously at Vandenberg Space Force Base after being released from Roc, signaling promising applications for hypersonic flight in defense and potentially commercial air transport. Stratolaunch CEO Zachary Krevor highlighted the company's progress: four Talon-A flights, twenty-four Roc flights, and two new supersonic and hypersonic aircraft flown within a year.

🏨 Room00, a European tourist accommodation network, secures €400 million from King Street Capital Management for European expansion, targeting Spain, Portugal, and Italy. Funds are earmarked for acquiring and renovating prime-location hotels in strategic micro-districts in cities like Madrid, Barcelona, Lisbon, Porto, Milan, Rome, and Florence. Room00 operates over 2,500 rooms across 50 assets and aims to grow to 200 properties and 15,000 rooms in Southern Europe within four years, plus a London debut by end of 2025, adding 20 sites and 1,000 rooms.

💸 NextTrip, a Santa Fe-based tech travel company, secured a $3 million credit line (€2.66 million) from its president to fund growth projects and operations for the next two years. The funds will finance marketing for new products and aid in developing recent high-end travel market acquisitions, including total control of OTA Five Star Alliance in April and the JOURNY TV streaming service. CEO Bill Kerby appreciates the president's support, emphasizing strategic priorities and shareholder value protection.

💰 Ritesh Agarwal, owning 30% of an Indian hotel group, faces financial strain as SoftBank, holding 40%, blocks the company's 3rd IPO attempt, pushing the next possibility to 2026. Initial valuation in 2021 was nearly $12 billion, a target SoftBank still aims for. Agarwal, who borrowed $2.2 billion to maintain control, is backed by SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son's personal guarantee for the loan, with a repayment due soon.

📢 DoorDash, an e-commerce specialist in the US, announced on May 6 two major acquisitions: Deliveroo for £2.9 billion (~€3.4 billion) at 180 pence per share, and SevenRooms for $1.2 billion (~€1.05 billion). Deliveroo operates in 9 countries, and its main competitors are Uber Eats and Just Eat TakeAway, the latter acquired by Prosus for €4.1 billion in February. The acquisitions will likely boost DoorDash's monthly user count to 50 million across 40 countries.

🏖️ Turkey achieved a record 9.5 billion dollars in tourism revenue with 8.844 million international visitors in Q1 2025. Announced by Culture and Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy in Istanbul, this marks a historic high for the quarter. In 2024, the country was the fourth most visited destination globally, receiving 62.2 million tourists against a target of 60 million. For 2025, the goal is 65 million visitors and 64 billion dollars in revenue. Key markets included Iran (733,000 visitors), Russia (601,000), Germany (572,000), Bulgaria (560,000), and the UK (304,000), with an average stay of 11 nights.

💸 Sabre sold its lodging solution, Synxis, to private equity firm TPG for $1.1 billion, 20 years after acquiring it in 2005. This move aims to focus on Sabre's core business of airline and hotel distribution, expecting to net $960 million from the sale. Proceeds will primarily go towards debt repayment and financial statement improvement. Post-sale, Synxis will become an independent company again, with a technology platform used by 40% of major hotel accounts. Sabre's board approved the transaction, expected to finalize by the end of Q3 2025, pending standard closing conditions and regulatory approvals, without financing contingencies.

🏨 Global hotel leader adds CitizeN brand to its extensive portfolio, reinforcing its position in the lifestyle segment. The 36 properties will remain owned by CitizenM and managed by its team. Growth operations are vital to compete with distribution giants and to share risks and costs, exemplified by the 2014 acquisition of South Africa's Protea and a partnership with serviced apartment specialist Sojern. Marriott International pays $355 million for the CitizeN brand, owned by APG pension fund, Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC, and founder Rattan Chadha's family.

🏨 Sabre Corporation (NASDAQ: SABR) is selling its Hospitality Solutions unit to TPG (NASDAQ: TPG) for $1.1 billion in cash, turning Hospitality Solutions into an independent tech company focused on the global hospitality industry. The transaction enables Sabre to reduce debt and optimize its portfolio, focusing on sustainable growth. Hospitality Solutions, serving over 40% of the world's top hotel brands with its SaaS platform, will remain separate from Sabre's B2B hotel distribution business, which continues as a strategic investment area.

💸 Roamr, an Irish startup, raised an additional €2.6 million in April 2025 for its pre-seed funding round, totaling over €3.16 million since its initiation in October 2024. Investors include Mike Halpin, Rick Kelley, Eoghan Quigley, and John Riordan, alongside new business angels. Roamr's solution for reducing business travel costs by 30% involves employees staying with personal contacts instead of hotels, saving companies money and fostering connections. The service operates in 100 countries, with plans to expand in the US and strengthen partnerships with workplace solutions such as Deel and Remofirst.