Expedia is in expansion mode. Last month, the vacation-planning giant announced it would acquire HomeAway, the Airbnb competitor that lets users search for and book vacation rental properties around the world. Also under the HomeAway umbrella are VRBO (vacation rentals by owner), VacationRentals.com, Australian vacation rental site Stayz and others.
Expedia made the purchase for a cool $3.9 billion, though the ink won’t be dry on the deal until 2016. The move comes on the heels of Expedia’s purchase of Orbitz and Travelocity earlier this year.
“We’re thrilled to announce our agreement to join the Expedia family of leading travel brands and couldn’t be more excited about what this move means for our very bright future,” said Brian Sharples, chief executive officer, HomeAway, in a press release on the company’s website. “We’re eager to benefit from Expedia’s distribution, technology and expertise, which will allow us to provide an even better product and service experience for our owners, property managers and travelers. In this way, I believe our combination with Expedia will turbocharge our growth and industry leadership for many years to come.”
HomeAway is based in Austin, Texas, and has vacation rental listings in more than 190 countries.
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