HomeAway’s acquisition of Stayz has highlighted the fact that there is more than one way to add domain names to your portfolio.
The vacation rental company bought competitor Stayz for $220 million in December 2013 and also acquired 161 domain names owned by Stayz as a result of the deal.
The domain names range from generic top-level domains (gTLDs) to geographic ones, including
- CorporateRentals.com.au
- VacationHomes.com.au
- VisitSydney.com.au
- Occupancy.com
- TakeABreak.travel; and
- HolidaysCentralCoast.com
The deal also included a range of domain names descriptive of vacation bookings in specific locations, such as BookLennoxHead.com, BookByronBeach.com and BookJervisBay.com.au.
Many of these domain names would be worth thousands of dollars on their own, adding a substantial amount of value to HomeAway’s acquisition.
Global law firm DLA Piper, which managed the deal, says that it was “one of the most significant M&A (merger and acquisition) deals in the technology, media & telecommunications sector in Australia in 2013”.
“Stayz represents a significant strategic acquisition for HomeAway, a long term client of DLA Piper in the US,” DLA Piper’s Head of Corporate, Asia Pacific, Bryan Pointon said in a press statement.
DLA Piper also advised HomeAway on the acquisition of majority control of Singapore based rental site travelmob.com in June 2013, and a majority purchase of New-Zealand-based rental site Bookabach in November 2013.
Pointon notes that the Stayz acquisition, however, is “the most material to date”, largely due to the number of domain names that came with it.
“We are delighted to have been part of the team of advisors helping HomeAway to achieve its strategic objectives.”
The deal means that HomeAway now has even more assets in the form of domain names, which it could decide to launch as independent businesses, release back onto the domain name market or even auction off as Yahoo recently did with some of its quirky domain names from previous acquisitions.
It also shows that there are ways to get different domains even when they may not be shown as available in a domain name search and that you can add to your portfolio almost incidentally through acquisitions.
While purchasing a domain name on its own is often considered the most straightforward option, there are other ways you can add to your portfolio. And the HomeAway acquisition of Stayz highlights just how lucrative different options can be when it comes to getting more domains.