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News Release from: Holiday-Rentals.co.uk
Edited by the Marketingservicestalk Editorial
Team on 04 October 2007
Merger creates holiday home rental giant
HomeAway has reinforced its global leadership in holiday home rentals by buying OwnersDirect.co.uk, which represents more than 17,000 private holiday properties to rent direct from owners.
The acquisition means that HomeAway now owns both the largest and second largest holiday rental sites in the United Kingdom, Holiday-Rentals.co.uk and OwnersDirect.co.uk HomeAway acquired UK market leader, Holiday-Rentals.co.uk in 2005 and the acquisition of OwnersDirect.co.uk this month marks a consolidation of the UK holiday rentals industry and HomeAway's fourth acquisition in less than a year
This article was originally published on Marketingservicestalk on 1 Oct 2007 at 8.00am (UK)
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The Company acquired US-based www.VRBO.com (Vacation Rentals by Owner) last November, French site www.Abritel.fr in January and US site VacationRentals.com in May.
It also owns CyberRentals.com, GreatRentals.com, Triphomes.com and FeWo-direkt.de in Germany, and now represents more than 255,000 listings across 100 countries.
Since its foundation in 1997, OwnersDirect.co.uk has built up a loyal base of advertisers and travelers, and quickly established itself as one of the leading holiday rentals websites.
Holiday-Rentals.co.uk, also in business for over 10 years, is well as established as the UK number one and currently represents over 40,000 properties in some 80 countries, attracting over 1.3 million visits per month.
The two companies were recently voted among the top 10 villa rental companies in the prestigious Conde Nast Traveller Reader Awards 2007.
The increasing popularity of private holiday home rentals is reflected in HomeAway's exponential growth, where revenue has increased organically by more than 50 per cent each year.
HomeAway is committed to providing home owners and managers the most efficient way to market their properties to the largest audience, while making it easier and safer than ever for travellers to find and compare the most diverse inventory of holiday home rental properties; from cottages to castles and apartments to villas.
OwnersDirect.co.uk will continue to operate as an independent brand from its offices in Ashtead and will be managed by Greg Grant, who has recently been appointed by HomeAway to run its UK operations.
Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.
A family business founded by Chris and Marie Goddard, Owners Direct has successfully advertised holiday properties since 1997.
The site advertises over 17,000 villas, apartments, chalets, farmhouses and cottages throughout the world available to rent direct from the owners.
Since its foundation, the site has grown from strength to strength to become the second largest holiday rentals site in the UK, with feedback from both advertisers and holidaymakers testament to its effectiveness.
HomeAway is the worldwide leader for online holiday rentals.
Each year, more than 100 million travellers visit the HomeAway sites, which represent more than 255,000 paid holiday rental home listings across 100 countries.
The portfolio includes the leading sites in the U.S.: HomeAway.com, VRBO.com, HolidayRentals.com, CyberRentals.com, A1Holidays.com, GreatRentals.com and TripHomes.com; the U.K: Holiday-Rentals.co.uk and OwnersDirect.co.uk; Germany: FeWo-direkt.de and France:Abritel.fr.
Led by an experienced team of online and travel industry experts, HomeAway is based in Austin, Texas, and is funded by leading venture capital firms Austin Ventures, Redpoint Ventures, American Capital, Institutional Venture Partners and Trident Capital.
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