HomeAway Incorporated, the top online vacation rental service located in Texas, has just named Simon Breakwell as the newest member of the board. Breakwell formerly served as the director for travel website Expedia Incorporated, so you know that he is more than qualified for the position at HomeAway.
Breakwell will serve as an independent director, as well as a member of HomeAway’s audit committee, replacing Todd Chaffee, who recently resigned from his position on the board. This announcement comes directly from the company itself and was announced in a regulatory filing.
Breakwell was previously the president of Expedia’s international business and joins the board as HomeAway looks to expand outside of the United States and to add travel services to its mainstay business helping users rent vacation properties. HomeAway announced back in June that it will offer airline tickets as well as rental cars through a new partnership with online travel agency Priceline.com Incorporated.
Chaffee is a partner at Institutional Venture Partners, which was an early investor in HomeAway. The fund participated in a $250 million financing round in 2008 that was led by Technology Crossover Ventures and also included Redpoint Ventures. Institutional Ventures has also backed Twitter Incorporated as well as LivingSocial.
In addition to that, HomeAway also raised $216 million in an initial public offering back in June 2011 by selling 8 million shares at $27 per share. The stock has since lost 13% and gained less than 1% to $23.60 at the close in New York.
It is interesting to see HomeAway looking to expand into international business. The site is already one of the leading vacation rental sites in the United States and international business could really be a huge industry for the site. It could also be a good money maker for renters in the U.S. as they could increase their customer base to international renters, allowing for transcontinental vacation rentals and house swaps.
Source: Bloomberg Businessweek – HomeAway Names Breakwell Director as Chaffee Resigns
