|
NEWS STORIES
FEATURES
VIDEOS
Editorial comment
07•10•19 Welcome to the latest Short Term Rentalz weekly newsletter!
• Two of the largest market players in the travel accommodations space, OYO and Airbnb, are making significant moves for the future, with the former raising $1.5 billion for global expansion and the latter gearing up for a direct listing over an IPO.
In the first case, OYO Hotels & Homes is raising investment through a Series F funding round, with current CEO and founder, Ritesh Agarwal, injecting $700 million to triple his ownership stake in the firm, alongside existing investors in the shape of Softbank's Vision Fund, Lightspeed Venture Partners and Sequoia India.
The reasoning behind the financing is to broaden OYO's reach in its fastest-growing market in the United States and to strengthen the company's position in the vacation rentals business in Europe, having last month acquired Danish data science firm Danamica for an undisclosed amount.
By doing this, Agarwal is building on his aim to build a "truly global brand" with forward-looking investments that will help the firm to become a more sustainable business and improve the standards in the quality of life for middle-income people and families around the world
Meanwhile, news emerged this week that Airbnb is preparing to hire Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs to participate in a direct listing as joint lead advisers to its potential stock market flotation.
Under a direct listing, companies can reduce the amount they pay in underwriting fees to investment banks as they do not issue new shares nor raise capital.
This contradicts previous long-standing claims that Airbnb was set to go in for an initial public offering [IPO] in 2020, under which the firm would be required to reveal its finances to investors. This change in stance has been attributed to a number of potential reasons, including the rise of internal tension over the timing of an IPO, the lack of success of other unicorns since going public, and ongoing regulatory issues in large global markets like Paris and New York.
Finally, I will be attending the upcoming FLEX [Flexible Rentals Investments] Conference from the 22-23 October at the Mission Bay Conference Center in San Francisco. ShortTermRentalz and Serviced Apartment News are media partners for the event so please do get in touch if you would like to connect with me at the conference in a fortnight.
If you have a story you want us to tell the industry, please click here and get involved with the community by commenting on our news stories on our website.
Paul Stevens, news editor
paul@internationalhospitality.media
|
|
UPCOMING EVENTS
22-23 October 2020
San Francisco, United States
|
|
|
|
|
International Hospitality Media is the premier specialist in online publishing; conference, exhibition and events, and advisory services for niche growth sectors of the hospitality industry. The company publishes three industry-leading b2b websites - BoutiqueHotelNews.com and ServicedApartmentNews.com and ShortTermRentalz.com which keep their respective sectors up to speed with news, comment and opinion.
Our conference experience spans four continents and covers high growth segments including boutique, lifestyle and hybrid hotels, serviced apartments / aparthotels and extended stay, and vacation rental. Our events are renowned for their intense focus and attract quality industry leaders, brands and independents, providing unparalleled networking and learning opportunities. We also organise bespoke educational events and investor breakfasts to bring owners, operators and investors together.
'Providing an inspirational community to connect people through world class online platforms and events'
© 2019 International Hospitality Media. All Rights Reserved.
|
|
Confirmation of your subscription opts you in to receive future updates on the event listed above, in addition to relevant communications from our partners. You can opt out at any time.
|
|
##footer##