OYO to acquire Amsterdam-based @Leisure Group

• Yes Will acquire @Leisure from Axel Springer, the media and technology company
• Tobias Wann, CEO, @Leisure Group will join OYO’s leadership group

OYO Hotels & Homes, a chain of hotels, homes, and living spaces - on May 2 announced  that it has agreed to acquire Amsterdam based @Leisure Group. @Leisure is a vacation rental company in Europe and manages holiday homes, holiday parks, and holiday apartments. OYO will acquire @Leisure from Axel Springer, the media and technology company.

@Leisure Group, through its Belvilla, DanCenter, and Danland brands, offers more than 30,000-fully managed holiday homes across 13 countries in Europe and through its Traum-Ferienwohnungen brand, offers a subscription-based home management service with over 85,000 homes across 50 countries.

This represents a total inventory of over 300,000 rooms. The acquisition helps OYO move a step closer in realising its vision of becoming a global real estate brand while maintaining leadership in the hospitality industry.

Commenting on the acquisition, OYO global chief strategy officer Maninder Gulati said, “I would like to commend @Leisure Group’s team for the incredible work they have done to bring wonderful and memorable living experiences to travellers around the world by offering beautiful holiday homes, cottages and holiday parks, in 300+ cities across Europe stretching all the way from Kokelv, Norway to Zahara de los Atunes, Spain. With @Leisure Group, its team and capabilities, we see OYO further its mission of creating quality living experiences for everyday travellers.

Globally, Homes presents OYO with a opportunity of over US$2 trillion across over 100 million homes covering vacation rentals and urban homes. Europe is the largest market accounting for 30-40% of this total supply.

@Leisure Group is among the few companies in the world with an OYO-like full-stack approach to vacation rentals management, having built deep data-driven capabilities in revenue management, homeowner engagement, and property management services.

@Leisure Group’s management team led by Tobias Wann, an experienced vacation rental professional, is one of the finest in the business with a growth driven mind-set grounded in financial discipline and prudence, which is evident in the profitable growth of the business historically.

Maninder further added, “With Europe spearheading the vacation and urban home rental trend globally, @Leisure Group is uniquely positioned to capitalise on its experience and insights aided with OYO’s full stack approach towards building the world’s largest global vacation rentals business.

“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. Further, in such a market of largely fragmented small and independent players, and a handful of established players, of which @Leisure Group, is one of the largest, we feel travellers will be excited with what @Leisure Group can offer.

“Through this acquisition, the size and scale of the opportunity can be immediately unlocked for OYO’s Homes business. Today, more than 2.8 million holidaymakers from over 118 countries book their holiday every year with @Leisure Group. The combined strength of both brands can scale the opportunity multifold.

Tobias Wann, CEO, @Leisure Group will join OYO’s leadership group as CEO, Vacation Homes, OYO Global, and will work with Maninder to turn OYO’s home business into a global by-word for vacation and urban home rentals.”

Commenting on the acquisition, OYO founder and group chief executive officer Ritesh Agarwal, added, “We see vacation homes as a unique opportunity with 115,000 units of homes now getting added to our already growing count of beautiful homes, we are excited to continue maintaining our global industry leadership. Our focus, however, will remain to be a beloved consumer brand that has the ability to create a perfect space in every place.

“The @Leisure Group is a great partner and we are excited to broad base their offerings. @Leisure Group has proven capabilities in helping develop Europe into a vacation rentals hotspot and we are keen to leverage on their competencies towards ensuring beautiful vacation rental and urban homes experience for millions of tourists from every part of the world. I am particularly thrilled to welcome Tobias and team into the OYO family. It is a business decision closely aligned with our overall mission that has incredible potential.”

OYO’s full stack fulfilment-led model enables it to deliver efficiencies across supply acquisition management, transformation, operations, revenue management, and distribution through both offline and online channels.

Launched in 2017, OYO Homes has over 15,000 villas and apartment units globally. Over the last six years, the company has built and demonstrated capabilities in upgrading various forms of real estate and transforming them into efficient and beautiful spaces.

This move will combine OYO’s capabilities of asset management and technology with the presence, local know-how and category-specific expertise of The @Leisure Group in the sphere of vacation rentals.

Reflecting on the acquisition and the proposed growth plans, Wann said, “We are delighted to join forces with OYO in its mission of creating quality and beautiful spaces. @Leisure Group was started with a similar mission to identify and service all forms of vacation & urban home rentals, focusing on delivering a hassle-free experience to both homeowners and guests. I am delighted to share that we’ve successfully achieved that over the past few years, and now aspire to leverage our synergies to deepen our presence in Europe and look to expand globally.”