At the heart of this merger are Cendyn’s Customer Data Platform, Starling and Pegasus’s CRS, which together provide hoteliers with access to a real recording system for profiles and prices for each guest. By RTN Staff – 12/11/2021
Hotel technology solution providers Cendyn, an innovator in CRM, sales and revenue strategy for the hospitality industry, and Pegasus, a provider of hotel booking, revenue and distribution solutions and digital marketing services, have entered into a merger agreement. By merging into a single company, the new entity will provide hoteliers with a platform to maximize their direct booking channel and improve the guest experience across all touchpoints.
“With many hoteliers struggling with resources and profitability, this merger provides a lifeline for those looking to build on top-line revenue through their direct channels,” said a joint press release announcing the merger.
This merger follows the merger in 2019 of Cendyn and Rainmaker, a provider of hotel revenue management solutions. With the takeover, Cendyn, together with large providers such as Infor, IDeaS and Duetto, became a leading solution provider in the area of hotel revenue management. The merger of Cendyn and NextGuest, a New York and Munich-based provider of CRM and digital marketing solutions for hotels, was completed in February of this year.
In 2019, Pegasus merged with Travel Tripper to bring the two companies’ industry-leading solutions together on one platform and improve service and support for its global customer base. With more than 30 years of global sales experience, Pegasus reportedly serves hotels in 120 countries from eight offices worldwide in New York, Scottsdale, Las Vegas, London, Paris, Frankfurt, Tokyo and Hyderabad.
The financial details of the merger were not disclosed. Neither was the name under which the combined companies will operate (although Cendyn, arguably more widely known, could be the most likely candidate). The transaction is expected to close before the end of the year, subject to customary closing conditions.
The heart of this merger is the Customer Data Platform from Cendyn, Starling and Pegasus’ CRS, which together give hoteliers access to a real system for recording profiles and prices for each guest. By leveraging the alignment of these important data points, hoteliers are at the forefront of personalization to improve the direct booking experience.
Last month, Cendyn introduced its next generation loyalty solution called eLoyalty. The solution, specially developed for hotels, supports several program types, including number of stays, number of nights, membership recognition, birthdays and “surprise and enjoyment moments”. eLoyalty is designed to provide hoteliers with a scalable loyalty solution that is fully configurable regardless of the type of hotel or brand.
Cendyn is best known for its Hospitality Cloud, which provides a complete set of software services for the industry and aligns marketing, sales and revenue teams to optimize their strategies and increase performance and loyalty in their business areas. With office seat in Boca Raton, Florida, and offices around the globe in Germany, Singapore, Thailand, and Japan, Cendyn reportedly serves customers in 143 countries. In 2019, Cendyn secured an investment from private equity firm Accel-KKR, which has a controlling interest in the company, to expand its marketing and sales solutions and expand its customer base.
According to the latest press release, the merger of Cendyn and Pegasus will provide hoteliers with a platform to maximize the direct booking channel, enhance their direct booking channel and enhance the guest experience “across every touchpoint”.
“We are incredibly happy about this combination with Pegasus. As our industry recovers from the pandemic, the merger of these companies brings size and stability to our customers, and provides hoteliers with a vertically integrated technology platform that enables them to meet a wide range of hotel needs, ”said Tim Sullivan, CEO and President of Cendyn, in a statement. “A seamless integration between these solutions underscores our commitment to personalizing and optimizing guest travel and enables hoteliers to maximize their direct booking channel.”
“At Pegasus, we wanted to enable hoteliers to offer their guests the best direct booking experience while ensuring a comprehensive distribution of inventory. The combination of Cendyn and Pegasus takes this to the next level and enables unprecedented personalization of the guest experience, not only during the search and booking phase but also throughout the customer lifecycle, ”said Gautam Lulla, CEO at Pegasus. “Above all, we will see longer lasting and more profitable relationships between hoteliers and their guests.”
