Wednesday, October 3, 2007

HomeAway Nabs U.K.-Based OwnersDirect.co.uk

HomeAway Inc., an operator of several vacation lodging rental Web sites, announced Tuesday that it has purchased OwnersDirect.co.uk, the United Kingdom's second-largest vacation rental online marketplace to HomeAway's Holiday-Rentals.co.uk. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. HomeAway said OwnersDirect.co.uk will continue to operate as an independent brand from its offices in Ashtead, England. The purchase of OwnersDirect.co.uk represents HomeAway's fourth acquisition of a vacation rental marketplace in less than a year. The Austin, Texas-based company bought U.S.-based VRBO.com in November 2006, French-based Abritel.fr in January and U.S.-based VacationRentals.com in May.