Delhi (TAN): Indian hotel startup OYO is buying @Leisure Group, a Netherlands-based vacation rental company, in an effort to strengthen its presence in Europe.
The deal is expected to cost OYO USD 415 million (EUR 369.5 million), and could close in June this year, media reports said.
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OYO, claimed to be the world’s sixth chain of hotels and living spaces, will acquire @Leisure from German media and technology company Axel Springer.
The vacation rental group runs over 85,000 properties across 50 countries under a subscription-based home management service, and over 30,000 holiday homes through several brands such as Belvilla, DanCenter, Danland and Traum-Ferienwhonungen.
The company said the acquisition could help OYO ‘move a step closer in realizing its vision of becoming a global real estate brand while maintaining leadership in the hospitality industry’.
“With Europe spearheading the vacation and urban home rental trend globally, @Leisure Group is uniquely positioned to capitalize on its experience and insights aided with OYO’s full stack approach towards building the world’s largest global vacation rentals business,” Chief Strategy Officer at OYO Maninder Gulati was quoted by media reports as saying.
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“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,” he added.
OYO, founded by Ritesh Agarwal in 2013, was launched as a startup for booking budget hotels in India. Currently, it is present in over 230 Indian cities and other countries including Malaysia, China and Nepal.
Global home-sharing platform Airbnb had invested in OYO earlier this year.
