India's OYO acquires Europe-based vacation home provider Direct Booker

Ritesh Aggarwal-led hospitality firm OYO today announced it has completed the acquisition of Europe-based company Direct Booker for around $5.5 million (approx. Rs 40 crore).

With this acquisition, OYO will strengthen its presence in Europe broadly, and Croatia specifically, where it already has nearly 1,800 vacation homes on its Belvilla platform and over 7,000 homes on its Traum Ferienwohnungen platform.

Nikola Grubelic and Nino Dubretic co-founded Direct Booker in December 2010. The Dubrovnik-headquartered company claims to be the market-leading player in the vacation home management segment in Dubrovnik, a key tourist destination in Croatia.

The acquisition announcement comes 32 months after it acquired Danamica in September 2018 for about $10 million. Following the latest deal, OYO so far has made 8 acquisitions -- Direct Booker, Danamica, Leisure Group, Weddingz, Ableplus Solutions, Qianyu Islands, Innov8, and Novascotia Boutique Homes.

The company owns and operates brands such as Belvilla (Belvilla by OYO), DanCenter, and Traum Ferienwohnungen, among others, in Europe. Following the acquisition, Direct Booker’s inventory will be available on Belvilla.com (Belvilla by OYO) and over time on its other platforms, according to the press statement.

“Homes continue to be an important strategic segment for OYO. With our leading Operating System, Dynamic Pricing capability, and other data science enabled features, we have been able to add value to our over 140,000 Home Storefronts 1 globally and I am excited to welcome Nino, Nikola & the team at Direct Booker under the OYO umbrella," Ankit Tandon, Global Chief Business Officer, OYO.

Ankit further said that OYO is continuously focusing on strengthening its presence in Europe and aiming to deliver the best Vacation Home experiences to our customers.

Speaking on the development, Nino Dubretic, CEO & Co-Founder of Direct Booker, said: “We strongly believe that by merging our technologies and expertise, this partnership will positively impact the Croatian tourism economy further, driving demand through OYO’s existing platforms spread across Europe. Being a part of OYO’s network will also increase visibility for the homes listed on our platform, especially across Scandinavian, Benelux, and surrounding countries. The next couple of months will be truly exciting as we work towards building our business together.”

Notably, OYO Rooms which was founded by Ritesh Agarwal is currently operating in over 35 countries and claims to be the third-most downloaded travel app in the world. 

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