Hostel booking group Hostelworld has agreed to acquire a US event discovery platform for $12 million (€10.32 million).
The Dublin-listed group said on Tuesday that the deal for Richmond, Virginia-headquartered OccasionGenius marks a “significant step forward” in its ambition to build “the world’s leading social travel platform”.
The acquisition, funded by a new €10.3 million term loan from AIB, gives Hostelworld access to OccasionGenius’s platform, which comprises city-by-city guides to events and experiences.
The US company is a “rapidly growing business”, Hostelworld said in a statement, with projected annual recurring revenue of $1.5 million.
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Hostelworld said it is leaving its full-year financial guidance unchanged following the announcement, but said its leverage position remains “comfortably” below target.
“This acquisition allows us to immediately supercharge our platform with a wealth of content that would take us years to build organically and enhances value creation opportunities for our shareholders,” said Hostelworld chief executive Gary Morrison.
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In an April strategy update, Hostelworld said it was eyeing “selective” deals to broaden its business.
The company said it will explore “complementary acquisitions aligned with our strategic objectives that can accelerate growth, extend our capabilities and help drive incremental shareholder returns”.
It is targeting low double-digit revenue growth between 2026 and 2027, before acquisitions are taken into account.
It plans to maintain marketing spend with the range of 45-50 per cent of revenue and is aiming for an Ebitda margin of more than 20 per cent.
Earlier this month, Hostelworld, which targets millennial and GenZ backpackers, reported a 5 per cent revenue increase in the third quarter.
It said the performance was boosted by its increased effective commission rate, which rose to 16.3 per cent from 15.2 per cent previously.
Direct marketing costs as a percentage of revenue fell from 49 per cent in the third quarter of 2024 to 47 per cent in the most recent quarter.
“Our third-quarter results show that the strategic plan we announced at our Capital Markets Day is delivering positive results,” said Mr Morrison at the time.
