AUSTIN, Texas, March 9 /PRNewswire/ -- HomeAway, Inc., the world's leading online vacation rental marketplace, today announced it has completed the acquisition of Qualimidia Veiculacao e Divulgacao Ltda, publisher of AlugueTemporada.com.br, Brazil's leading vacation rental site. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

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With its acquisition of the largest vacation rental website in South America, HomeAway® extends its virtual borders beyond North America and Europe and increases its total vacation rental listings to more than 475,000.  A recognized vacation rental brand among Brazilian travelers, AlugueTemporada, which means "vacation rentals" in Portuguese, features more than 12,000 property listings located in Brazil.

"HomeAway is committed to offering a global inventory of trusted vacation rental homes, giving travelers more affordable alternatives to hotels wherever they travel," says HomeAway CEO Brian Sharples.  "Brazil has become one of the world's most exciting markets and an increasingly favorite destination among HomeAway's European travelers.  We're looking forward to making Brazil more accessible to them and introducing this market to our U.S. customers."

"AlugueTemporada has always provided a tremendous value for our travelers and owners in South America, but we feel we can now better serve them by joining the worldwide distribution network HomeAway has created and promoting these extraordinary vacation properties to a broader audience," says Jed Alcure, President of Qualimidia.

The site will continue to operate as an independent brand from its office in the popular vacation destination of Rio de Janeiro, which hosts the 2014 FIFA World Cup and 2016 Summer Olympics.

The acquisition of AlugueTemporada further strengthens HomeAway's global leadership position in the fast-growing $48 billion vacation rental segment of the travel industry.

AlugueTemporada is published in and supported by a team that speaks English and Portuguese. HomeAway also operates HomeAway.com, VRBO.com and VacationRentals.com in the United States; Abritel.fr and Homelidays.com in France; HomeAway.co.uk (HomeAway Holiday-Rentals) and OwnersDirect.co.uk in the United Kingdom; HomeAway.de (HomeAway FeWo-direkt) in Germany; and HomeAway sites in Spain, Italy, France, Portugal, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland.

About HomeAway, Inc.

HomeAway, Inc., based in Austin, Texas, is the worldwide leader in online vacation rentals, representing more than 475,000 paid vacation rental home listings throughout 120 countries.  HomeAway offers an extensive selection of vacation homes that provide travelers with benefits, including more room to relax and added privacy for less than the cost of traditional hotel accommodations, as well as full kitchens and extra amenities such as private pools.  In addition, the company makes it easy for owners of vacation rental properties to advertise their rental properties and manage their bookings online.  The HomeAway portfolio includes the leading vacation rental websites HomeAway.com, VRBO.com and VacationRentals.com in the United States; HomeAway.co.uk and OwnersDirect.co.uk in the United Kingdom; HomeAway.de in Germany; Abritel.fr and Homelidays.com in France; HomeAway.es in Spain and AlugueTemporada.com.br in Brazil.  For more information, please visit www.HomeAway.com.

SOURCE HomeAway

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