Amid ongoing plans to separate its hotel and rental business units, Wyndham Worldwide has announced the sale of its European vacation rental business to global private equity firm Platinum Equity for approximately US$1.3 billion.
The deal is attached to a 20-year agreement under which the vacation rental business will pay royalty fees – one per cent of revenue – to Wyndham’s hotel business for the right to use the Wyndham Vacation Rentals endorser brand.
The European vacation rentals operations will also participate as a redemption partner in the Wyndham Rewards loyalty programme.
Wyndham’s European vacation rental business is said to be the largest manager of holiday rentals in Europe, with more than 110,000 units in over 600 destinations across more than 25 countries. The business operates more than two dozen local brands, including cottages.com, James Villa Holidays, Landal GreenParks, Novasol and Hoseasons.
It generates approximately US$750 million in annual revenue and approximately US$130 million of EBITDA, including allocated costs, Wyndham disclosed in a statement.
Wyndham Worldwide originally announced its intent to explore strategic alternatives for its European rental brands in August 2017, in conjunction with the planned separation of its hotel business from its vacation ownership and timeshare exchange businesses. The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of 2018.
