Holiday-Rentals.co.uk owner makes French acquisition
HomeAway Inc, the US owner of Holiday-Rentals.co.uk, has acquired French market leader, Abritel.fr.
At the same time, HomeAway has enlisted Alexander, Marc and Oliver Samwer – the high profile founders of Alando (now eBay Germany) and Jamba! – as investors and advisors to the company.
The three have become investors through their venture capital firm, the European Founders Fund GmbH.
Abritel.fr is HomeAway’s third acquisition in Europe, where the company also operates sites in the UK and Germany; Holiday-Rentals.co.uk and FeWo-direkt.de.
In November, HomeAway announced it had $160 million in financing to fund global expansion initiatives including the purchase of its US rival, VRBO.com.
This was the largest private equity investment in an internet and software company worldwide in 2006.
With the addition of Abritel.fr, HomeAway’s European subsidiaries now represent over 60,000 properties worldwide.
HomeAway Europe managing director Alexis de Belloy said: “Abritel.fr shares in this commitment and accelerates HomeAway’s efforts to bring holiday rentals to the mainstream travel industry.”
By Bev Fearis
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
Vegas’s Billion-Dollar Secrets – What They Don’t Want Tourists to Know
Visit Florida’s New CEO Bryan Griffin Shares His Vision for State Tourism with Graham
Chicago’s Tourism Renaissance: Graham Interviews Kristin Reynolds of Choose Chicago
Graham Talks with Cassandra McCauley of MMGY NextFactor About the Latest Industry Research
Destination International’s Andreas Weissenborn: Research, Advocacy, and Destination Impact
Graham and Don Welsh Discuss the Success of Destinations International’s Annual Conference
Graham and CEO Andre Kiwitz on Ventura Travel’s UK Move and Recruitment for the Role
Brett Laiken and Graham Discuss Florida’s Tourism Momentum and Global Appeal
Graham and Elliot Ferguson on Positioning DC as a Cultural and Inclusive Global Destination
Graham Talks to Fraser Last About His England-to-Ireland Trek for Mental Health Awareness
Kathy Nelson Tells Graham About the Honour of Hosting the World Cup and Kansas City’s Future
Graham McKenzie on Sir Richie Richardson’s Dual Passion for Golf and His Homeland, Antigua
ADS PRO 
Global tourism exceeds 1.5 billion travelers announces UN-Tourism
Qatar Airways offers reduced timetable to over 60 destinations
WTTC global tourism reached record economic impact of 11 trillion in 2025
Hands In, UATP join forces for airline multi-card payments
Overseas travelers to the United States declined by 2.5% in 2025