The Inside Story Behind Expedia’s Purchase of HomeAway

Expedia Inc.'s initial bid for HomeAway was $35 per share on October 8 and Expedia temporarily walked away from the negotiations four days later when HomeAway countered that it wanted a number in the $40s. After nearly a month of back and forth talks, the two sides agreed on an imputed value of $38.31 in the $3.9 billion cash and stock deal with HomeAway's board of directors unanimously approving the deal on the afternoon of November 4 and the two sides announcing the agreement after the stock market close later that afternoon as HomeAway published its third quarter earnings. Along the way, Company A informally expressed an interest in acquiring HomeAway in November 2014, and companies B, C, and D discussed making their own strategic investments in HomeAway from May to August 2015 but none ultimately made an offer. An alternative transaction and commercial agreement from Company F got serious consideration from HomeAway in late October 2015 but HomeAway concluded that the prop