PARIS—AccorHotels has begun exclusive negotiations for the acquisition of 100% of Travel Keys, one of the leading players in the private vacation rental market.
Founded in 1991, Travel Keys is an elite travel broker representing a luxury collection of more than 5,000 curated villas in more than 100 destinations across the Caribbean, Mexico, Hawaii, U.S., Europe, Asia and Africa. The Atlanta-based company offers vacation planning and 24/7 concierge services.
The combination of Travel Keys with onefinestay and Squarebreak would mean AccorHotels would have an offering of about 8,500 addresses in the luxury private rental market, with highly curated properties in both the vacation and urban segments.
The transaction is expected to close in Q2 2017 after customary due diligence.
“We are extremely pleased to have Bobby Gibson and his team join the AccorHotels family. They have built a very robust business over the years that will be instrumental in our strategy to create the number one luxury private rental player in the world,” said Sebastien Bazin, chairman & CEO of AccorHotels. “Travel Keys brings an impressive portfolio of premium properties to our existing activities. This acquisition further demonstrates our agility and dynamic approach to offer comprehensive services to our clients.”
“We feel a strong link with the AccorHotels’ teams, and share in the vision of both Sebastien Bazin and the private rental leaders at AccorHotels about the future of our industry. We are very enthusiastic about this partnership, writing a new and exciting chapter of Travel Keys’ story,” said Bobby Gibson, CEO of Travel Keys. “Our objective is to offer extraordinary experiences to our guests, i.e. the best homes in the best locations with the highest level of service. At the same time, we cater to extremely demanding hosts who find their unique assets mismatched to the mass market offerings found in emerging peer to peer marketplaces.”