• News
    • VRM Intel News
    • Latest News
    • Sponsor News
  • COVID-19
  • Marketing
  • Tech
  • OTAs
  • Customer Service
  • Regs
  • Housekeeping
  • More
    • Education
      • Calendar of Events
      • Videos & Whitepapers
    • VRM Intel Live!
    • Reports Login
    • VRM Intel Magazine
    • Subscribe
    • Advertise
    • Authors
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
VRM Intel
  • News
    • Rented joins Vacation Rental Women’s Summit as Presenting Sponsor
    • Survey Shows 31% of Those Who Traveled after COVID-19 Stayed in a Short-term/Vacation Rental
    • Rented Launches New Automated Rate Tool for Vacation Rental Professionals
    • Vrbo Is Performing Better Than Airbnb for Vacation Rental Managers, But Direct Booking Still Number One Revenue Source . . . By A Lot
    • 4th Annual #BookDirect Guest Education Day Is February 3, 2021
    • VRM Intel News
    • Latest News
    • Sponsor News
  • COVID-19
    • Survey Shows 31% of Those Who Traveled after COVID-19 Stayed in a Short-term/Vacation Rental
    • Paycheck-Protection-Program-for-VR-industry
      Latest Round of Paycheck Protection Program Includes Up to $2 Million Loans for Some Vacation Rental Business Owners
    • Timing is Everything: The Impact of Seasonality on COVID Recovery for Southeast Destinations
    • Meredith Oskenholt-Meredith Lodging-Bend Oregon
      The Principles That Have Guided Meredith Lodging through the Global Pandemic, Raging Forest Fires and Personal Family Challenges
    • Airbnb Goes Public. CEO Brian Chesky: “Travel is never going to look like it did in January”
  • Marketing
    • Rented joins Vacation Rental Women’s Summit as Presenting Sponsor
    • Survey Shows 31% of Those Who Traveled after COVID-19 Stayed in a Short-term/Vacation Rental
    • Vrbo Is Performing Better Than Airbnb for Vacation Rental Managers, But Direct Booking Still Number One Revenue Source . . . By A Lot
    • 4th Annual #BookDirect Guest Education Day Is February 3, 2021
    • Timing is Everything: The Impact of Seasonality on COVID Recovery for Southeast Destinations
  • Tech
    • Rented Launches New Automated Rate Tool for Vacation Rental Professionals
    • Timing is Everything: The Impact of Seasonality on COVID Recovery for Southeast Destinations
    • Inhabit IQ Gets “Significant Investment” from Goldman Sachs Merchant Banking Division
    • 2021 Social Media Game Changer
      Are You Ready to Ride the Wave to Becoming a 2021 Social Media Game Changer?
    • NDAs & Confidentiality Agreements: What to Include and When to Enforce
  • OTAs
    • Vrbo Is Performing Better Than Airbnb for Vacation Rental Managers, But Direct Booking Still Number One Revenue Source . . . By A Lot
    • 4th Annual #BookDirect Guest Education Day Is February 3, 2021
    • Airbnb Goes Public. CEO Brian Chesky: “Travel is never going to look like it did in January”
    • 6 Takeaways from Vrbo’s 2021 Consumer Travel Trend Report
    • Barron’s: Airbnb Set to Price December 9 and Trade December 10
  • Customer Service
    • Paycheck-Protection-Program-for-VR-industry
      Latest Round of Paycheck Protection Program Includes Up to $2 Million Loans for Some Vacation Rental Business Owners
    • Meredith Oskenholt-Meredith Lodging-Bend Oregon
      The Principles That Have Guided Meredith Lodging through the Global Pandemic, Raging Forest Fires and Personal Family Challenges
    • Dynamic Pricing: To Adjust Rates or Not to Adjust Rates
    • Repurposing Space: Broadening Your Vacation Rental’s Appeal
    • Booking.com Affirms Commitment to Quality with Minimum Cleanliness Score Requirement
  • Regs
    • Barron’s: Airbnb Set to Price December 9 and Trade December 10
    • Strategic Forecasting Beyond 2021: Are Vacation Rental Managers Changing Fast Enough?
    • Alabama’s tourism economy benefits from Florida Governor DeSantis’ shutdown of vacation rentals
    • Airbnb reaches out to city officials to influence “transitional travel reopening plans”
    • Jeff Paglialonga on FL Vacation Rental COVID-related ban: “We need your support to rectify what I believe is to be the illegal taking of property from Florida vacation rental owners.”
  • Housekeeping
    • Booking.com Affirms Commitment to Quality with Minimum Cleanliness Score Requirement
    • Q&A with Breezeway founder Jeremy Gall about company’s $8 million funding round and more
    • Gatlinburg-based Cabins For YOU acquires Chalet Village and is looking for more. Q&A with owner and founder Greg Plimpton
    • What is the cost of Airbnb’s recommended 24- to 72-hour “buffer” time between stays?
    • The Professional Vacation Rental Manager’s Crisis Playbook
  • More
    • Education
      • Calendar of Events
      • Videos & Whitepapers
    • VRM Intel Live!
    • Reports Login
    • VRM Intel Magazine
    • Subscribe
    • Advertise
    • Authors
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
  • RSS

Industry News for Vacation Rental Managers

GSV initiates technology rollup in the vacation rental industry, including LiveRez, Streamline, VRM, Bluetent, and more.

GSV initiates technology rollup in the vacation rental industry, including LiveRez, Streamline, VRM, Bluetent, and more.
mm
Amy Hinote
June 3, 2019

Tennessee-based private equity firm Greater Sum Ventures (GSV)—partnering with Insight Venture Partners—has been steadily rolling up large technology companies in the vacation rental industry, acquiring majority stakes in Streamline Vacation Rental Software, Bizcor, Bluetent (which purchased Visual Data Systems), Rental Guardian, Virtual Resort Manager (VRM), and most recently, LiveRez.

And the number is growing as more companies are currently in the due diligence process.

Reportedly, purchase agreements for these companies include a mix of cash, shares for founders in the overall rollup, and earnout consideration based on performance. Each company’s deal is different, with some founders receiving a more optimal mix of compensation levers than others. The structure of the purchase allows each company to claim that GSV has “invested” in the company rather than labeling the commercial arrangement as an acquisition, and tight non-disclosure agreements prevent founders from discussing the purchase arrangements.

 

What are GSV’s future plans with the rollup?

GSV has repeatedly declined to comment on its intentions.

However, according to sources, GSV’s plan is to sell in short order. Several insiders say that GSV’s plans are to roll up vacation rental technology companies, find synergistic cost savings, negotiate and optimize existing contracts, and package the technology group for sale in as little as twelve months.

VRM Intel has received several reports from technology companies and service providers who opened up their books to GSV in hopes for an acquisition that did not come, giving GSV unprecedented insight into key financials and revealing a unique look into enterprise-level technology offerings and profitability by sector.

 

Vacation rental industry concerns

Over one hundred vacation rental managers have reached out to VRM Intel to find out more about GSV’s activity.

The leading cause for concern revolves around innovation and implementation.

With the end of support for legacy systems such as PropertyPlus, Entech and First Resort, which HomeAway Software shut down last month, many enterprise-level vacation rental managers migrated to technology solutions now under the GSV umbrella, purchasing software systems they believed were moving forward and innovating. Instead, they have found themselves in an implementation backlog with shrinking hopes of seeing the improvements and innovations they were promised. 

And with the rising distribution cost of using OTAs, property managers are watching technology and marketing costs increase while innovation and tech support decrease. 

As PMs learn more about the performance-based agreements between GSV and the companies it acquired, users are voicing concerns that overall technology innovation in the vacation rental industry will stall.

While communications from the companies purchased by GSV have been consistent, stating that nothing will change for users, a number of employees of the acquired companies—especially in sales roles—have seen compensation packages altered and have been actively putting out feelers across the industry for new job opportunities. 

 

The truth is that we do not yet know

While GSV has declined to comment on its acquisition activities and plans for the future, the company has been public in casting a wide net in sourcing acquisitions. Over 15 vacation rental technology companies and service providers reported to VRM Intel that GSV has reached out to their teams with acquisition interests. 

They even reached out with a blanket letter to VRM Intel:

 

Companies report that, in preliminary discussions, GSV floats an early purchase amount, and then engages in an extensive due diligence process. However, several companies who have engaged in the process report that GSV ultimately “passed” on purchasing their companies.

In the absence of GSV sharing its objectives, the vacation rental industry is forced to speculate about its intentions. As a private equity company, it is safe to assume the goal is to sell. But with the market-leading position of the software companies it has purchased, the industry is left to wonder what will become of innovation in the sector. 

Among professionally managed vacation rental professionals in the US, the choices for software and web solutions are limited. As more tech companies join the GSV roll up, managers will be watching closely to see how GSV maintains and supports the companies it has purchased. 

Related ItemsacquisitionBizcorBluetentFeaturedGreater Sum VenturesGSVinsightliverezrental guardianrollupsoftwarestreamlinetechnologyvacation rentalVDSVRM
View Comments (12)

12 Comments

  1. Pingback: GSV-led technology rollup in vacation rental industry rebrands to Inhabit IQ and names new leadership team - VRM Intel

  2. Pingback: Vacation Rental Mergers and Acquisitions Shaping Our Industry's Future

Leave a Reply

Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Industry News for Vacation Rental Managers
June 3, 2019
mm
Amy Hinote @vrmintel

Amy Hinote is the founder and editor-in-chief of VRM Intel Magazine, which provides news, information and resources for the professionally managed vacation rental industry. With a background in finance and over 15 years in the vacation rental industry, Hinote has worked with property management companies, technology companies, intermediaries and investors, and provides insider information about the growing vacation rental industry. She also founded the data company, now known as Key Data Dashboard, which provides aggregated market intelligence and reporting for vacation rental managers. Hinote resides between Alabama's Gulf Coast and Evanston, Illinois.

Related ItemsacquisitionBizcorBluetentFeaturedGreater Sum VenturesGSVinsightliverezrental guardianrollupsoftwarestreamlinetechnologyvacation rentalVDSVRM

More in Industry News for Vacation Rental Managers

Rented joins Vacation Rental Women’s Summit as Presenting Sponsor

VRM Intel StaffJanuary 25, 2021
Read More

Survey Shows 31% of Those Who Traveled after COVID-19 Stayed in a Short-term/Vacation Rental

Amy HinoteJanuary 25, 2021
Read More

Rented Launches New Automated Rate Tool for Vacation Rental Professionals

Amy HinoteJanuary 25, 2021
Read More

Vrbo Is Performing Better Than Airbnb for Vacation Rental Managers, But Direct Booking Still Number One Revenue Source . . . By A Lot

Amy HinoteJanuary 24, 2021
Read More

4th Annual #BookDirect Guest Education Day Is February 3, 2021

Amy HinoteJanuary 24, 2021
Read More

Timing is Everything: The Impact of Seasonality on COVID Recovery for Southeast Destinations

Melanie BrownJanuary 18, 2021
Read More
Scroll for more
Tap

Sponsor News

  • Rented Launches New Automated Rate Tool for Vacation Rental Professionals
    Industry News for Vacation Rental ManagersJanuary 25, 2021
  • Inhabit IQ Gets “Significant Investment” from Goldman Sachs Merchant Banking Division
    Latest NewsDecember 18, 2020
  • You Are Your Best Revenue Manager
    Revenue ManagementNovember 30, 2020
  • How Email Helped Save Vacation Rental Companies During the COVID-19 Pandemic
    AdvertisementNovember 21, 2020
VRM Intel
Calendar of Events
Videos & Whitepapers
VRMintel Magazine
Subscribe
Advertise
About Us
Authors
Contact Us

Recent News

  • Rented joins Vacation Rental Women’s Summit as Presenting Sponsor
    BusinessJanuary 25, 2021
  • Survey Shows 31% of Those Who Traveled after COVID-19 Stayed in a Short-term/Vacation Rental
    COVID-19January 25, 2021
  • Rented Launches New Automated Rate Tool for Vacation Rental Professionals
    Industry News for Vacation Rental ManagersJanuary 25, 2021
  • Vrbo Is Performing Better Than Airbnb for Vacation Rental Managers, But Direct Booking Still Number One Revenue Source . . . By A Lot
    BusinessJanuary 24, 2021

View Current Issue

VRMintel Copyright © 2016-17 | Click HERE to Subscribe | Privacy Policy | Disclaimer | Copyright | Jobs | Facebook | Twitter | LinkedIn

Why Coaching Soft Skills is so Different from Training Hard Skills
Vacasa to Acquire Sea to Sky Rentals: Founder Michelle Acquavella Shares Reasons Behind the Sale and What is Next
We use cookies and similar technologies to recognize repeat visits, as well as to measure the effectiveness of campaigns and analyze traffic. By clicking "I Accept" you consent to the use of cookies unless you have disabled them.Accept