HomeAway Continues Global Expansion With Acquisition of Leading Vacation Rental Web Site in France.AUSTIN, Texas -- HomeAway, Inc., the world's leader in online vacation rentals Vacation rental is a term in the travel industry meaning renting out a furnished apartment or house on a temporary basis to tourists as an alternative to a hotel. Vacation rentals are becoming increasingly popular in Europe (especially in the UK) as well as in Canada. , today announced the acquisition of Abritel.fr SA, the leading vacation rental Web site in France. The news follows HomeAway's November 16, 2006 announcement of $160 million in financing to fund global expansion initiatives and the acquisition of VRBO VRBO Vacation Rentals by Owner .com. HomeAway sites enable vacation rental property owners and managers to easily market their properties, which range from condos to castles, for an annual subscription fee. With the addition of Abritel, which in 2006 represented more than 30,000 "for-rent-by-owner" properties primarily located in France, the HomeAway sites now list more than 160,000 homes across 100 countries. The company will attract more than 100 million unique visitors A count of how many different people access a Web site. For example, if a user leaves and comes back to the site five times during the measurement period, that person is counted as one unique visitor, but would count as five "user sessions. to its sites in 2007. "At HomeAway we are committed to offering the best vacation rental sites and user experience for travelers and homeowners -- the best and most efficient sites for owners to advertise their properties and the largest, most diverse inventory for travelers to find the perfect vacation rental home," says Brian Sharples, founder and CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. of HomeAway. "Abritel shares in this commitment and accelerates HomeAway's efforts to bring vacation rentals to the mainstream travel industry." Founded in 1987 and becoming an Internet Internet Publicly accessible computer network connecting many smaller networks from around the world. It grew out of a U.S. Defense Department program called ARPANET (Advanced Research Projects Agency Network), established in 1969 with connections between computers at the business in 1997, Abritel.fr will continue to operate as an independent brand from its office in Marseilles Marseilles (märsā`), Fr. Marseille, city (1990 pop. 807,726), capital of Bouches-du-Rhône dept., SE France, on the Gulf of Lions, an arm of the Mediterranean Sea. , France. The company adds 22 employees to the European European emanating from or pertaining to Europe. European bat lyssavirus see lyssavirus. European beech tree fagussylvaticus. European blastomycosis see cryptococcosis. HomeAway team, joining the 25 employees of HolidayRentals.co.uk, the leading vacation rental site in the United Kingdom and the 16 employees of FeWo-direkt.de, the largest vacation rental site in Germany. "In less than two years, HomeAway has become the worldwide leader in vacation rentals. We are proud to provide our customers access to this global online travel community," says Christian Miquel, founder and CEO of Abritel.fr. "HomeAway makes it possible for Abritel to grow the European market rapidly, providing French and pan-European homeowners the most cost-effective cost-effective, n the minimal expenditure of dollars, time, and other elements necessary to achieve the health care result deemed necessary and appropriate. way to advertise to international travelers who desire an authentic holiday experience." The terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. Abritel.fr now joins the HomeAway community of Web sites that include: HomeAway.com, VRBO.com, CyberRentals.com, GreatRentals.com, A1Vacations.com, TripHomes.com, Holiday-Rentals.co.uk, HolidayRentals.fr, FeWo-direkt.de and HomeAway.es. About HomeAway, Inc.: HomeAway, Inc. is the worldwide leader for vacation rentals on the Internet. Each year, more than 100 million travelers visit the HomeAway global marketplace that represents more than 160,000 vacation rental homes across 100 countries. The HomeAway portfolio of vacation rental sites includes HomeAway.com, as well as VRBO.com, CyberRentals.com, A1Vacations.com, GreatRentals.com, TripHomes.com, Holiday-Rentals.co.uk (UK), HolidayRentals.fr, Abritel.fr (France), FeWo-direkt.de (Germany) and HomeAway.es. Led by an experienced team of online and travel industry experts, HomeAway is based in Austin, Texas and is funded by leading venture capital firms Name Location Founding date Managing Partners/Directors Specialty Capital managed 5AM Ventures Menlo Park, CA; Waltham, MA 2002 John Diekman, PhD (managing partner), Scott Rocklage, PhD (managing partner), Andrew Schwab (managing partner) life sciences $200M [1] Austin Ventures, Redpoint Ventures, American Capital, Institutional Venture Partners and Trident Capital. |
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