Dublin's Hostelworld acquires US events firm for €10m

The acquisition was funded through a €10.3m term loan from AIB.

Ireland-based online travel accommodation firm Hostelworld Group has announced that it is to acquire US business-to-business event discovery platform OccasionGenius for $12m (€10.3m).

The acquisition was funded through a €10.3m term loan from AIB. OccasionGenius will be acquired for a total cash consideration of $12.0m on a cash-free, debt-free basis.

OccasionGenius provides a global event dataset to businesses consisting of a city-by-city catalogue of local ‘Things to Do’ and a unique global dataset of ‘travel worthy’ events that inspire travellers to book trips.

Hostelworld said that acquisition reinforces their ambition to “create the world’s leading social travel platform” and accelerates the development of their events capability.

“By integrating this at scale, we expand from accommodation into events, strengthen community connection, and advance our broader social monetisation strategy,” the firm said.

Chief executive of Hostelworld Gary Morrison said the acquisition will allow them to offer a “wealth of content” on their site that “would take us years to build organically and enhances value creation opportunities for our shareholders”.

Hostelworld was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in Dublin. It is listed on the Euronext Dublin exchange.

The firm has almost 270 employees and says it works with hostel partners in over 180 countries.

OccasionGenius is forecasted to have annual recurring revenue of €1.5m, by year end.