OYO completes acquisition of Europe-based Direct Booker for $5.5 mn

Travel and hospitality platform OYO said it has concluded the acquisition of Europe based company ‘Direct Booker’ with the transaction valuing the acquired entity at $5.5 million. Direct Booker has over 3,200 homes and serviced 2 million customers so far.

This acquisition will strengthen OYO’s presence in Europe broadly and Croatia specifically where it already has nearly 1,800 vacation homes on its Belvilla platform and over 7000 homes on its Traum Ferienwohnungen platform. Direct Booker’s inventory will be available on Belvilla.com (Belvilla by OYO) and over time on its other platforms.

OYO has in the recent past declared its intent of actively scouting for ‘tuck-in’ acquisitions, especially in the European market as a strategic growth lever. OYO already has a strong footprint in The Netherlands, Denmark, Belgium, Germany, Austria etc.

Ankit Tandon, Global Chief Business Officer, OYO, said, “Homes continue to be an important strategic segment for OYO. We have been able to add value to our over 140,000 Home Storefronts 1 globally and I am excited to welcome Nino, Nikola and the team at Direct Booker under the OYO umbrella. I am sure OYO’s cutting edge technology, distribution systems and data sciences will add more value to their current 3,200 homes and enhance our collective growth in Europe. We continue to focus on going deep in Europe and delivering the best Vacation Home experiences to our customers.”

Direct Booker was started in 2010 by Nikola Grubelic and Nino Dubretic, CEO & Founders, of Direct Booker, a market-leading player in the Vacation Home management segment in Dubrovnik, a key tourist destination in Croatia.

Nino Dubretic, CEO & Co-Founder of Direct Booker, commented, “We are happy to join forces with a global travel tech company like OYO. 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.”

In 2020, OYO acquired TUI Holiday Homes business from e-domizil GmbH. This acquisition gave OYO access to 17,000 homes.

Oyo started its European expansion in 2019 with the acquisition of @Leisure Group for about $415 million. @Leisure Group operates through various sub-brands like Belvilla, VillaXL, DanCenter among others.

OYO has a presence in over 35 countries and is the third most downloaded travel app in the world, said the company in a statement. With the acquisition of Direct Booker, the Dubrovnik-headquartered company will now become a part of the OYO platform with a presence across Europe.