Travel giant Expedia makes an aggressive move into the vacation rental sector by purchasing one of the sector’s market leaders, HomeAway for $3.9 Billion (€3.6B). Jay Williams from VillaMarketers.com suggests that this will bring a 6% booking fee, whilst Skift is reporting that this acquisition will bring a change in HomeAway’s business model

Here’s the press release:

Expedia Inc. said Wednesday it has agreed to buy HomeAway Inc.  for $3.9 billion in cash and stock, adding a vacation rental site to its cache of brands.

The offer is valued at about $37.86 a share based on Expedia’s closing price on Wednesday. That represents an 18% premium over HomeAway’s last closing price.

The deal, subject to regulatory approvals, is expected to close in the first quarter of next year.