Oravel Stays Ltd, which operates hospitality unicorn Oyo, on Tuesday said it has acquired holiday homes operator Bornholmske Feriehuse for an undisclosed amount to strengthen its footprint in Europe.
Bornholmske Feriehuse manages over 700 vacation homes in Denmark.
In May, Oyo acquired Direct Booker for $5.5 million to strengthen its presence in Europe. Direct Booker manages over 3,200 vacation homes in Croatia. The acquisition aims to strengthen Oyo's footprint in Europe broadly and Croatia specifically, where it has nearly 1,800 vacation homes on its Belvilla platform and over 7,000 homes on its Traum Ferienwohnungen platform, the company had said in a statement.
Recently, the hospitality unicorn grabbed headlines after it wrote to stock market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) to revise its financials as it looks to delay its initial public offering (IPO) beyond September further lowering the valuation, two persons aware of the development told VCCircle.
Amid weaker market conditions, Oyo is looking at an IPO after September at a lower valuation of around $7-8 billion versus the earlier planned figure of $11 billion.
A Bloomberg report also said the IPO could be postponed to FY23.
The SoftBank-backed firm, which is a unicorn (valuation of $1 billion or more), has also sought permission to include restated financial statements for the six-months ending September for fiscal years 2022, 2021 and 2020.
The Gurugram-based company had filed papers for a Rs 8,430 crore ($11 billion) IPO in October last year. The proposed IPO comprised a primary capital raise of around Rs 7,000 crore and with other investors selling Rs 1,430 crore worth of shares, VCCircle reported.
VCCircle reported that last year the company hired at least three merchant banks to raise $1.2 billion through an IPO, two people close to the development said.
Founded by Rasmus Lund and Jacob Lund in 2002, Bornholmske Feriehuse is a full stack operator providing solutions to the homeowners, with a presence in Bornholm, an island in Denmark.
According to VisitDenmark, the official tourism organization of Denmark, last year Bornholm clocked an increase of more than 15% in the number of overnight stays on the island compared to the same period in 2020.
“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,” said Ritesh Agarwal, founder and group chief executive officer, Oyo.
According to media reports, Oyo’s chief marketing officer (CMO) Rohit Kapoor, in July, resigned from the company to move to Swiggy to head its food delivery business.
“Our guest nights have broken records in recent years, and the demand from foreign guests in holiday homes has been particularly high. The collaboration with Oyo through DanCenter therefore gives us the opportunity to keep up with demand, just as our homeowners also benefit from the many online portals that DanCenter collaborates with,” said Rasmus Lund, director of Bornholmske Feriehus.
