Expedia News

Although five companies other than Expedia expressed an interest in investing in HomeAway or proposed an alternative transaction, only one, Expedia, made a full-blown acquisition proposal. That may say something about HomeAway's prospects, the very competitive marketplace in the vacation rental space and the broader sharing economy.

Hotels like that online travel agencies sell their rooms, but they'd much rather sell the rooms themselves -- especially as consolidation has given giants like Expedia more power over negotiating prices.

Everyone knows that being nimble enough to test and introduce new technology is a tremendous advantage. Behind the scenes, though, Expedia got good at another skill -- moving really fast to identify and make acquisitions.

With Expedia acquiring Travelocity, Orbitz Worldwide, Wotif and HomeAway since 2014, it isn't hard to imagine Expedia adding GetYourGuide to its portfolio -- although with this latest funding round the price tag just went up.

Expedia's purchase of HomeAway sets the stage for big moves in the online booking sector.

Booking.com wants to change the narrative: Its growth, and especially its girth, compare favorably with Airbnb's on the apartment rental front. And Booking.com can show some digital one-up-manship too because all of its 21 million rooms are instantly confirmable.

With the Priceline Group out of the running to get into the Expedia-HomeAway sweepstakes, it appears very likely that the deal will sail through toward closing.

Wall Street is buying up HomeAway's stock with the thinking that a new bidding war with Expedia could take hold, but that's unlikely. From HomeAway CEO Brian Sharples' comments, it seems likely that some kind of sales process -- and obviously a serious vetting of the deal -- already took place.

For financial, online travel nerds and human resources nerds, here's all the fine print that's seen the light of day so far about then Expedia-HomeAway merger.

If you have a company with multiple product lines and consumer strategies, you want a chairman like Barry Diller to have your back.