WebBeds owner Webjet has sealed the acquisition of hotel booking operator Destinations of the World (DotW).
A $173 million deal for the Dubai-based firm was inked ahead of day one of WTM London on Monday (November 5).
DotW joins the WebBeds portfolio alongside JacTravel, TotalStay, Sunhotels, Lots of Hotels and FIT Ruums.
Webjet acquires DotW from private equity firm Gulf Capital. Its founders and management team will retain a shareholding in Webjet Group.
DotW is described as a “leading independent B2B platform with regional expertise across geographically diverse source and destination markets”.
John Guscic, Webjet managing director, said the move would “solidify” WebBeds’ position as the second largest B2B supplier of beds globally.
“WebBeds is focused on helping our clients succeed and enabling our hotel partners to respond to fast-changing market trends - the acquisition of DotW will ensure we can accomplish this on an even greater scale than we have achieved to date,” said Guscic.
“DotW is a company we have worked with for many years, and we have the greatest amount of respect for their business. We look forward to working with the DotW team in the weeks and months ahead as we integrate our businesses and develop the best possible outcomes for all of our partners and clients.”
Webjet said the acquisition would also deliver “considerable cost and revenue synergies” in the short to medium-term.
DotW has a portfolio of around 12,300 directly-contracted hotels of which 5,600 are unique to WebBeds.
The acquisition also boosts WebBeds strength in Asia Pacific, with DotW also due to boost its operations in the Americas.
WebBeds’ workforce will expand to 2,100 staff operating out of 36 locations, with access to more than 250,000 hotels worldwide, around 28,500 of which are directly contracted.