Oyo Hotels & Homes is stepping up its foray into the vacation rentals sector, with its latest acquisition of Amsterdam-based vacation rental company @Leisure Group from media and technology company Axel Springer.
The acquisition is said to give the Airbnb-backed Oyo a leg up in realising its vision of becoming a global real estate brand and drive further consolidation in the vacation rental segment. Launched in 2017, Oyo Home already has over 15,000 villas and apartment units globally. The company also recently entered into Japan’s housing rental market through a joint venture with Yahoo.
Commenting on the strategic rationale behind the latest deal, Oyo’s global chief strategy officer, Maninder Gulati, said: “With Europe spearheading the vacation and urban home rental trend globally, @Leisure Group is uniquely positioned to capitalise on its experience and insights aided with Oyo’s full stack approach towards building the world’s largest global vacation rentals business. If one were to look at Europe alone, there is an ever-increasing demand for vacation homes with an increasing trend of booking an entire home.”
Gulati added: “Further, in such a market of largely fragmented small and independent players, and a handful of established players, of which @Leisure Group, is one of the largest, we feel travellers will be excited with what @Leisure Group can offer.
“Through this acquisition, the size and scale of the opportunity can be immediately unlocked for Oyo’s Homes business. Today, more than 2.8 million holidaymakers from over 118 countries book their holiday every year with @Leisure Group. The combined strength of both brands can scale the opportunity multifold.”
@Leisure Group, through its Belvilla, DanCenter and Danland brands, offers more than 30,000-fully managed holiday homes across 13 countries in Europe; and through its Traum-Ferienwohnungen brand, offers a subscription-based home management service with over 85,000 homes across 50 countries. This represents a total inventory of over 300,000 rooms.
With the acquisition, @Leisure Group CEO Tobias Wann will join Oyo’s leadership group as CEO, Vacation Homes, Oyo Global.
Last year, @Leisure Group achieved a record EBITDA of more than 24 million euros (US$27 million) last year.
