Eyebrows were raised earlier this week when HomeAway, an Austin, Texas based vacation tech company, was able to raise $250 million through venture capital sources for what CEO Brian Sharples termed opportunities for the company to pay down debt, insiders to cash in a little equity, and for the vacation home rental company to perhaps pursue additional vacation home acquisitions. This comes on top of a $209 funding several months ago.
HomeAway owns the homeaway.com, vrbo.com, vacationrentals.com, a1vacations.com, cyberrentals.com and ownersdirect.co.uk websites. They are the proverbial 900 pound gorilla in the vacation home rental and vacation home management niche of hospitality lodging. They maintain some of the best vacation villa rental inventory in the Orlando area within several luxurious vacation home communities with a plethora of pools and other amenities. Inside sources indicate that roughly 30% of its revenues come from overseas which makes its domains a prime fit for Orlando tourism and travel. These brands certainly have a strong presence in the Orlando, Disney area and Kissimmee vacation home rental markets.
The ability for the firm to acquire capital in such a rough market does indicate that the clout and respect for the vacation home management and that the vacation home rental business model is growing. Strong consistent growth and a relatively stable cash flow model has now shown to be a valuation premium in this difficult market. My guess is that the funding will in time be used to:
1. Help HomeAway and its online brands to strengthen their market positioning in Orlando and other vacation home rental markets in the Central Florida area and elsewhere
2. Make additional prudent acquisions as the dust settles during this recessionary period. This additional funding might allow the company to expand its Orlando footprint in more “drive to” vs. “fly to” destinations that may come back quicker as a result of lower gas pricing for consumers.
3. Grow its presence in the vacation home managment area where cash flows tend to be stable and where its brand presence will give the company clear competitive advantage and leverage with homeowners
