TripActions raises equity at $9.2 billion valuation, gets Coatue structured financing According to Reuters
© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Visitors walk through Terminal 3 at O’Hare Airport ahead of the busy Thanksgiving Day weekend in Chicago, Illinois, U.S., November 21, 2017. REUTERS/Kamil Krzaczynski/File Photo
By Krystal Hu
(Reuters) – U.S. travel and expense company TripActions said it raised $304 million from investors in financing structured like equity and debt on Wednesday, as The company is about to expand and go public.
The company said the funding includes $154 million in equity funding from investors including Andreessen Horowitz and Premji Invest, valuing the startup at $9.2 billion, up from the previous round. 7.5 billion dollars before. The $150 million structured funding comes from Coatue Management’s new fund targeting late-stage startups while the IPO market remains closed.
TripActions’ business has recovered from the pandemic as the company’s travel operations resume. It said total bookings in the most recent quarter increased by more than 500%. Sources told Reuters the company had filed confidentially for an initial public offering (IPO) that could take place next year.
The company said it does not have a specific timeline for a public listing.
Thomas Tuchscherer, chief financial officer at TripActions, said: “We consider price appreciation more than insurance to keep us very active in the face of this volatile market. “We are investing to get the company ready to go public.”
TripActions competes with American Express (NYSE: Global Business Travel and SAP Concur. The company said it plans to expand sales and marketing in the United States and Europe, and build in more product features.
The investment is one of the first announced from Coatue Management’s $2 billion Tactical Solutions fund, which provides alternative solutions for maturing startups to raise capital. stocks during a market downturn.
Tuchscherer said the note it obtained from Coatue is not convertible to equity and has no covenants. This is a premium for equity investments but lower for existing lenders and the debt facilities the startup holds.
“This is a solution primarily aimed at late-stage growth companies,” said Dan Rose, President of Coatue Ventures.
(Story has been edited to change the name to TripActions, not TripAction.)
