OYO's $415 million acquisition of Amsterdam-based holiday home chain part of plan to become the world's largest hotel company

• OYO is buying @Leisure from Axel Springer, the media and technology company, for $415 million.
• This will add 300,000 rooms to OYO’s list.
• Vacation homes are becoming a big part of OYO’s strategy, after having launched OYO Homes in 2017.

From a unicorn in 2018 to becoming a global hotel chain, Indian hospitality startup OYO Hotels & Homes has achieved a lot within a year. Now, OYO is once again in the news for having acquired Amsterdam-based @Leisure Group of hotels.

OYO is buying @Leisure from Axel Springer, the media and technology company, for $415 million.

The acquisition marks an important step in OYO’s journey, as this becomes one of the biggest acquisitions done by an Indian startup in the global arena. With the acquisition, OYO will now have @Leisure’s more than 30,000-fully managed holiday homes across 13 countries in Europe and a subscription-based home management service with over 85,000 homes across 50 countries.

This will add 300,000 rooms to OYO’s list. OYO has 175,000+ rooms in India, whereas in China it has 322,000+ rooms and in the rest of the world put together, it is adding 60,000 rooms every month. In India, over 15 cities have 200 OYO hotels per city.

“If one were to look at Europe alone, there is an ever-increasing demand for vacation homes with an increasing trend of booking an entire home. Through this acquisition, the size and scale of the opportunity can be immediately unlocked for OYO’s Homes business. Today, more than 2.8 mn holidaymakers from over 118 countries book their holiday every year with @Leisure Group. The combined strength of both brands can scale the opportunity multifold,” said OYO’s Global Chief Strategy Officer, Maninder Gulati.

Vacation homes are becoming a big part of OYO’s strategy – it had launched OYO Homes in 2017. OYO Homes already has over 15,000 villas and apartment units globally.

Global expansion mode

In a bid to become the world’s largest hotel chain (OYO currently holds the 6th position), OYO has been fast expanding its businesses in India and globally. In 2017, OYO had entered the China market and rapidly expanded to be one of the biggest hotel chains in the country. In fact, OYO has more rooms to offer in China than it does in india.

Earlier in 2019, OYO announced its partnership with Japan-based SoftBank Corp and the SoftBank Vision fund to launch a new venture called Oyo Hotels Japan. It had also started a housing rental service in Japan called Oyo Life.

The company also has a presence in Indonesian, European and Sri Lankan markets. In September 2018, OYO had opened its signature OYO townhouses in London.

See Also:
OYO upgrades its app for hotel owners and offers financing, marketing support and timely payments
OYO partners with Softbank to create a joint venture for its Japan business