Vacasa buys vacation rental business for $162M
Published 12:00 am Wednesday, July 31, 2019
- In this February 2019 file photo, Vacation Rental Potential hosts Holly Baker and Kimberly White, senior director of design services at Vacasa, talk with Sunriver property owners Tiffany and John McCormick.
Portland vacation rental management company Vacasa said Tuesday it will spend $162 million to buy a similar business run by vacation industry giant Wyndham Destinations.
It’s a blockbuster bet by the fast-growing company, which will grow its property portfolio by 64% to more than 23,000 homes. Privately held Vacasa is financing the deal with cash, company stock and $90 million in borrowing.
Vacasa said it now expects more than $1 billion in bookings over the next 12 months and revenue of more than $500 million, catapulting the Pearl District company into the ranks of Oregon’s largest businesses.
Vacasa said it grew by more than 60% last year. On Tuesday morning, CEO Eric Breon said the Portland company’s major challenge now will be to continue rapid growth now that it’s a much bigger organization.
“This is an order of magnitude larger than what we’ve done previously,” Breon said. He said Vacasa had very little debt on its books prior to Tuesday’s deal and will seek additional investment following the transaction.
Vacasa markets and manages vacation rental properties across the country, from Sunriver to Sarasota. Property owners list their homes on Vacasa’s website, and Vacasa employs management, cleaning and maintenance personnel to oversee the sites. It takes a commission on each booking.
Founded in 2009, Vacasa has grown rapidly since it began taking outside investment three years ago. The company has now raised more than $200 million and has used that war chest to acquire smaller vacation management services in getaway destinations around the country.
Tuesday’s deal is by far the largest, though, and makes Vacasa a major player in the vacation rental market. It competes against other vacation listing services such as Airbnb, HomeAway and VRBO but operates somewhat differently since it both lists and manages properties for the owners.
Vacasa maintains that its technology, which seeks to dynamically adjust its pricing and marketing to match renters’ demand, gives it a leg up in maximizing the value of the properties it manages. Breon said it already knows Wyndham’s business well since Vacasa’s chief operating officer, Bob Milne, had previously been president of Wyndham Vacation Rentals in North America.
“We’re buying what’s a pretty stable asset,” Breon said. “We’re only banking on our ability to optimize it, as we have many, many times before.” Vacasa has 380 employees in its Pearl District headquarters and close to 3,000 more across the country, mostly cleaning, maintaining and managing properties in the local markets. Breon said Tuesday’s deal will bring the total workforce above 5,000.
“Our expectation is to continue scaling (up) at a rapid pace against what will now be a much larger base,” he said.