Yanolja, a global hotel and leisure platform company, acquired eZee Technosys, an innovative global company widely known for its channel management system (CMS) and property management system (PMS).

eZee Technosys is an innovative IT solutions company based in Surat, India. The company ranks second in the global PMS market, following Oracle Hospitality. eZee Technosys offers services to more than 13,000 global customers in more than 160 countries around the world, including North America as well as the Middle East and Southeast Asia. With Yanolja's PMS business currently servicing over 8,000 properties in Korea, together with eZee Technosys, it will elevate to be one of the global Top 2 in the cloud-based PMS market, with strong technological R&D capabilities.

Yanolja's decision to acquire eZee Technosys was primarily based on two aspects: (1) the company's strong R&D capabilities; and (2) the significant growth potential of cloud based PMS market, reflecting the active and dynamic needs of customers. Against this backdrop, Yanolja will mainly utilize the PMS to create an integration platform where all users including hotels, OTAs, and customers can benefit - lower operational costs, innovative product offerings, and better user experiences, respectively. In addition, Yanolja has developed a blueprint to fully automate hotel operations utilizing cloud-based technologies, beyond the existing on-premise solutions.

Thanks to the acquisition, Yanolja immediately secured a total of 21,000 global clients as well as strong global R&D capabilities. In particular, Yanolja will maximize synergy with its previously invested ZENRooms, the No.1 budget hotel chain in Yanolja, the largest online travel platform in South Korea raised $180 million in Series D funding from GIC and Booking Holdings, bringing its current valuation to more than $1 billion.

Alongside its investment, Yanolja and Booking Holdings have entered into a strategic partnership and commercial agreement. With the partnership, Booking Holdings' brand Agoda will have the ability to offer its customers Yanolja's unique hotel accommodations in South Korea, and Yanolja customers will be able to book accommodations across the globe powered by Agoda and other Booking Holdings' brands.

Yanolja is the market leader in Korea's accommodation and leisure industry, given the company's acute understanding and use of cutting-edge digital technologies, and global expansion plans. In particular, the company has demonstrated accelerating sales growth at an annual rate of more than 70% over the past five years.

Yanolja quickly gained ground as the largest online travel platform in Korea surpassing $100 million in monthly transactions for the first time in the industry. Yanolja has continued to show the value of its online booking platform for its customers with 20 million accumulated reservations for accommodation and leisure activity booking.

In addition, Yanolja is one of the largest hotel chains in Korea with more than 200 hotels which include some of the strongest and most recognized franchise hotel brands across the country. Outside of Korea, Yanolja has invested in Southeast Asia's No. 1 hotel chain, ZENRooms, which has more than 1000 hotels across the region, strategically positioning itself for its global hotel franchise business.

Furthermore, Yanolja has developed the leading cloud-based property management system in Korea, supporting all kinds of accommodation types, helping the owners save operational costs, increase bookings, and ultimately boosting revenue. Based on its technological know-how and operational experience, Yanolja is architecting a smart hotel that utilizes key technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and internet of things (IoT). Earlier this year, Yanolja in collaboration with Korea Telecom, introduced the smart hotel concept in Jeju Island, which is expected to enhance the hotel's overall performance contributing mainly from two perspectives: (i) cost efficiency and (ii) customer satisfaction.

The new funds will be used to further innovate and achieve new grounds in hospitality-related technology to automate hotel operations and achieve more pervasive connectivity across the value chain. A portion of the newly raised funds will also be deployed to accelerate digitalization and achieve growth potential in the global travel and leisure market, going beyond the traditional travel sphere.