Skift Take
Sorry, Airbnb. Those who follow the vacation rental business closely had a hunch that the business would be gobbled up by private equity and they were right.
Just one day after releasing its fourth quarter and full year 2017 earnings results, Wyndham Worldwide has achieved one of its primary goals in pursuing its spinoff into two separate companies: selling its European vacation rental business.
Today, Wyndham Destination Network announced it has accepted an offer from Compass IV Limited, an affiliate of Beverly Hills, California-based private equity firm Platinum Equity, for $1.3 billion. The deal is expected to close in the second quarter of 2018 and is subject to approval by the European Commission and the UK Financial Conduct Authority.
Wyndham's European vacation rental business immediately became a topic of interest when it was announced that Airbnb had made an offer to purchase it last year. However, as evidenced by this announcement, Airbnb was unsuccessful in its pursuit of the business.
The business, considered to be one of the largest collections of holiday rentals in Europe, comprises more than 110,000 properties spread out over 600 destinations in 25 different countries, and operates under more than two dozen brands. Those brands include cottages.com, James Villa Holidays, Landal GreenParks, Novasol, and Hoseasons. The majority of the rental properties are exclusive to these brands because of property management agreements. The
