Last week Fairfax Media owner of Australia’s number 2 real estate portal Domain.com.au and number 1 holiday rentals website Stayz.com.au purchased Occupancy Pty Ltd for $29 million. Occupancy Pty Ltd operates rentahome.com.au and takeabreak.com.au who make money mainly through the booking fees paid by holidaymakers when they book accommodation online.
Fairfax chief executive Greg Hywood said Occupancy was growing strongly and had huge market potential. ”Occupancy also provides a perfect fit with our stated strategy of expanding in the online transactions sector, where we are committed to further strengthening our position”.
It will be interesting to see whether Fairfax integrates the two new sites with their Stayzs platform. As one of the biggest issues in the holiday accommodation space is making sure calendars sync across all online platforms for a property.