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HomeAway, Inc. announced it will purchase a minority stake in Tujia.com, the first online vacation rental service provider in China targeting middle to high-end Chinese travelers. HomeAway joins Ctrip.com International, the leading online travel service provider in China, and venture capital firms, Lightspeed China Partners and CDH Investments, in this financing.
The transaction will close following final regulatory approval of the Chinese government.
“HomeAway seeks to make every vacation property in the world available to every traveler and so we’re excited to make this long term investment in Tujia.com as we believe they are best positioned to bring vacation rentals to China,” says Brian Sharples, chief executive officer of HomeAway. “We’re also looking forward to a relationship with Ctrip.com, which understands the opportunities of the Chinese vacation rental market and currently highlights Tujia.com’s vacation rental properties on its homepage.”
“The capital raised from this financing will fund business development within China and give Tujia.com the ability to invest more heavily in strategic business development,” says Justin Jun Luo, chief executive officer of Tujia.com, which was founded in December 2011.
HomeAway expects to account for this minority investment using the cost method of accounting.
Vicky is the co-founder of TravelDailyNews Media Network where she is the Editor-in Chief. She is also responsible for the daily operation and the financial policy. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Tourism Business Administration from the Technical University of Athens and a Master in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Wales. She has many years of both academic and industrial experience within the travel industry. She has written/edited numerous articles in various tourism magazines.
