Vacation rental firm with Boise ties may go public — as its ex-Boisean CEO steps away
Vacation rental company Vacasa has a new CEO, a move that might presage its going public.
“After 10 years as CEO of Vacasa, our founder Eric Breon has decided to step away from day-to-day operations, and focus on vision and strategy for the company by serving on its board,” said Anni Murphy, public relations manager for the company, in an email message. “He will lead Vacasa’s search for a new CEO.
“In the meantime, Matt Roberts, former OpenTable CEO and current independent director on the Vacasa board, will assume the role of interim CEO.”
Breon founded Vacasa in Portland in 2009 and operated it from Boise for several years when he lived here. He has grown the business to more than 25,000 homes under management and 6,000 employees worldwide, the company said in a statement.
Vacasa says it has about 220 employees in its downtown Boise office, about 40 of whom are in technology. It says it has about 100 people in field offices throughout the state. It has several Idaho job openings.
After its October purchase of Wyndham Vacation Rentals, Vacasa is on track to exceed $1 billion in gross bookings and $500 million in net revenue in 2020.
Startup founders often step aside when their companies grow.
“A lot of great candidates, they’re hesitant when the founder is still holding the reins,” Breon told Oregon Live/The Oregonian on Tuesday. He said he will continue living in Portland and doesn’t have any immediate plans other than “catching my breath, getting to know my family.”
Roberts served as chief financial officer from 2005 to 2011 and CEO from 2011 to 2015 at restaurant booking service OpenTable. As CFO, he led OpenTable through an IPO in 2009, and as CEO he negotiated the sale of the company to the Priceline Group (now Booking Holdings) for $2.6 billion in cash. He joined the Vacasa board in November 2018.
His expertise at OpenTable offers a possible hint about Vacasa’s plans for the future.
“Considering the significant market opportunity and our 60% year-over-year growth, going public is definitely an option,” Murphy said. “Several factors, including market conditions, will determine if and when we go public.”
Going public means the privately held company would sell stock to the public.
In October, Vacasa finalized the acquisition of Wyndham Vacation Rentals, which brought several brands, including ResortQuest, Kaiser Realty and Vacation Palm Springs, under its ownership. Plans for the acquisition were announced last July and are expected to be completed by this fall.
As of the acquisition, Vacasa managed 503 vacation homes in Idaho, while Wyndham managed 109.
Vacasa, which identifies itself as a technology company more than as a vacation rental company, added a new chief technology officer earlier this year as well.
Bigger investment than Airbnb’s
About the time it bought Wyndham Vacation Rentals, Vacasa announced a $319 million third round of investment – larger than the $200 million Airbnb received for its third round in 2013 – which gave the company a valuation of more than $1 billion. Hitting that $1 billion mark places it in the “unicorn” category in startup parlance.
The round was led by Silver Lake, which specializes in technology investing. Existing investors Riverwood Capital, Level Equity, and NewSpring also participated in the capital raise. Financial terms were not disclosed.
With a first round funding of $103.5 million and a second round of $64 million, Vacasa has raised a total of $526.5 million in private equity funding — more than any other startup of its kind, according to industry reports.
Vacasa markets and manages vacation rental properties across the country. Property owners list their homes on Vacasa’s website and Vacasa hires management, cleaning and maintenance staffers to oversee the sites. It takes a commission on each booking.
Vacasa competes against other holiday listing services such as Airbnb, HomeAway and VRBO, but operates somewhat differently because it both lists and manages properties for its clients, while its competitors leave management to the property owners.
The Idaho Statesman contributed.