HomeAway buys majority stake in Travelmob
Just over a year after buying minority stake in the leading Chinese rental home provider Tujia.com, HomeAway has now agreed to aquire a majority stake in Asian start-up Travelmob to boost its position in the region.
Travelmob, founded in just 2012 by Turochas Fuad and Prashant Kirtane, operates a transaction-based model that features over 14,000 rental listings in Asia-Pacific including villas, apartments and houseboats.
“We view Asia as a region where we can build tremendous incremental value for our shareholders and existing customers over the next several years…We believe this will have significant implications for not only travel but also for the purchase of homes, both of which drive HomeAway’s growth,” said HomeAway CEO Brian Sharples.
No price or conditions were initially confirmed however HomeAway expects to spend $2m in additional expenses to develop the Travelmob business. the company has said that it will discuss further terms of the acquisition during its Q2 earnings call later this month.
HomeAway says Travelmob will retain a 37% share of the business and continue to operate from its Singapore headquarters as an independent brand.