OYO Acquires Danish Vacation Home Company Bornholmske Feriehuse To Expand Footprint in Europe

Hospitality major OYO on Tuesday (August 9) announced the acquisition of Danish vacation home company Bornholmske Feriehuse. However, it didn’t disclose the acquisition cost.

The acquisition will strengthen OYO’s presence in the region and will enable the company to cater to additional users visiting these vacation homes. The move will also add around 737 vacation homes managed by Bornholmske to OYO’s kitty.

The transaction was executed by OYO through its European subsidiary DanCentre. 

The deal was carried out via the Danish government’s ‘Invest in Denmark’ initiative that aims to provide one-stop service to foreign firms looking to set up or expand their base in the country. 

“I feel elated as we welcome Rasmus and integrate Bornholmske Feriehuse under the brand OYO. Bornholm exhibits great potential for tourism in the coming years. We are happy to extend cooperation to the ‘Invest in Denmark’ initiative and work for the development of tourism in Bornholm and Denmark,” OYO group chief executive officer (CEO) Ritesh Agarwal said.

As part of the deal, Bornholmske Feriehuse director and cofounder Rasmus Lund will continue to lead the company and grow its operations.

Founded in 2002 by Rasmus and Jacob Lund, Bornholmske Feriehuse is a full stack operator providing end-to-end solutions to homeowners. The startup allows users to book vacation homes by allowing owners to list their properties and realise a rental percentage from the total sales. 

The acquisition will also allow other OYO properties to list on the platform and enable users to book them. 

“In the coming time, the holiday homes from Bornholmske Feriehuse will become available for booking through more than 130 online portals with which DanCenter works closely. At the same time, Bornholmske Feriehuse now has a larger capacity of holiday homes, which is a positive addition to the concept, which until now has primarily had holiday apartments and holiday centres as its focal point,” OYO said in a statement.

This comes months after OYO concluded the acquisition of Europe-based vacation rental company Direct Booker for an undisclosed amount. 

The hospitality major has a strong presence in European countries such as the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Austria, Croatia, among others. Overall, OYO offered its services in more than 35 countries at the end of March 2021. 

The unicorn also offers more than 40 integrated products and services to its clients that operate over 1.57 Lakh hotels and home storefronts in countries including India, Europe, and Southeast Asia.

Last month, it was reported that the hospitality major’s global chief marketing officer Rohit Kapoor resigned from the startup and was likely to take up a senior position at foodtech major Swiggy.

The global hotel and resort industry was projected to reach the $722 Bn mark by the end of 2022. On similar lines, Indian tourism and hospitality was expected to earn as much as $50.9 Bn from foreign visitors by the end of 2028.