The deal will enable the vacation rentals company to become publicly listed

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TPG Pace Solutions to take vacation rental management platform Vacasa public in $4.9bn deal. (Credit: Vacasa LLC)

Vacasa, a vacation rental management platform, has agreed to merge with TPG Pace Solutions in a deal that values the former at $4.5bn.

TPG Pace Solutions is a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) sponsored by global alternative asset firm TPG.

The deal with the SPAC will enable Vacasa to become a publicly-traded company.

Based in Portland, Oregon, the company has an end-to-end technology platform, which is said to help property owners optimise their income and care. For guests, the platform provides a professional vacation rental experience in more than 400 destinations.

Through the company’s marketplace, guests can search, discover, and book stays at more than 30,000 vacation homes. The booking can be done using the company’s website, the Vacasa Guest App, and at more than 100 channel partners such as Airbnb, Vrbo, and Booking.com.

Vacasa is expected to register nearly $1.6bn gross bookings and revenue of $750m this year from five million nights sold.

Vacasa CEO Matt Roberts said: “The integration of our purpose-built technology with our local, expert service teams brings exceptional care and greater returns to our homeowners, delivers a consistent and reliable experience to our guests, and helps us offer a large supply of professionally managed homes for our distribution partners.

“As more second homeowners share their homes with guests for the first time, and travellers increasingly prefer to stay at vacation rentals, we believe our partnership with TPG Pace Solutions will help accelerate our growth and the enhancement of our technology offerings for homeowners and guests.”

The merger deal will also help the vacation rental management platform with nearly $485m in gross cash proceeds. The capital will be used for funding its future growth plans.

TPG Pace Solutions will contribute up to $285m of the gross proceeds from the cash held in its trust account. The remaining $200m will come through a common equity investment led by top-tier mutual funds, major institutional investors, and TPG as well.

Vacasa’s existing investors alongside founder Eric Breon and management are likely to retain an 88% stake in the enlarged company, post-merger. The investors include Silver Lake, Level Equity, Riverwood Capital, Altos Ventures, NewSpring Capital and Adams Street.

TPG Pace Group non-executive chairman and director Karl Peterson said: “TPG has a long history of supporting high-growth companies, including consumer internet marketplaces, and new economy travel and leisure businesses.

“Leveraging our extensive public market experience, we believe our partnership will further solidify Vacasa as a scaled hospitality brand in vacation rentals. We’re excited to work with Matt and the entire Vacasa team as we transition the company to the public equity marketplace.”

The deal will be subject to approval from TPG Pace Solutions’ shareholders and other customary closing conditions.