M&A activity snapshot
The defining U.S. deal in short-term rental (STR) management is the Vacasa take-private. Casago agreed on December 30, 2024 to acquire Vacasa's public shares at $5.02 per share, subject to adjustment. Davidson Kempner then made an unsolicited, non-binding proposal at $5.25 per share. Vacasa accepted a revised $5.30 Casago offer after its special committee weighed a $5.75 Davidson Kempner proposal.
The merger closed on April 30, 2025, with each Class A share converted into $5.30 in cash. Vacasa had itself been assembled by acquisition: its deals included Wyndham Vacation Rentals North America in October 2019 and TurnKey in April 2021, which added approximately 6,000 homes. Vacasa recorded long-lived asset and goodwill impairments of $46.0 million and $411.0 million as of September 30, 2023. A further $84.0 million long-lived asset impairment followed as of March 31, 2024.
After closing, the roll-up was largely unwound into local hands. Casago's chief operating officer told Skift it has sold all but around 600 of Vacasa's 32,000 vacation rental units to local owners, many of them as franchises.
Europe and the luxury tier produced their own deals. HomeToGo agreed to acquire Interhome, Europe's second largest vacation rental management company, from Migros for CHF 150M plus up to CHF 85M in deferred payments. Skift reported HomeToGo completed the purchase in August 2025, paying more than $200 million. Exclusive Investments agreed to acquire Inspirato for $4.27 per share in cash, an equity value of approximately $59 million, and that merger closed on February 3, 2026.
The lease-based model fared worse than asset-light management. Marriott notified Sonder on November 7, 2025 that it was terminating their license agreement effective immediately, and Sonder filed chapter 7 petitions on November 14, 2025. For broader context on the category, see Real Estate & Property Services M&A.
Who is buying
- Operators and franchisors. Casago bought Vacasa as an operator, then resold nearly all of its local markets, turning many into franchises.
- Hedge funds and credit investors. Davidson Kempner Capital Management bid $5.25 per share for Vacasa unsolicited, competing directly with a strategic buyer.
- Vacation rental marketplaces. The Interhome acquisition by HomeToGo put a booking marketplace in direct control of managed supply.
- Luxury travel owners. Exclusive Investments, parent of Exclusive Resorts, bought Inspirato, a travel club that leases and manages homes rather than a pure third-party manager.
- Regional roll-ups. VTrips bought two resort-market managers, adding 701 properties, on top of more than 20 prior acquisitions. That 2022 release shows the typical tuck-in size of a few hundred units.
- Local owner-operators. Casago's sell-down makes individual operators the buyers of single markets, often under a franchise agreement.
What buyers look for
Units under management are the price lever. Casago agreed to remove purchase price adjustments that could have cut the consideration for shortfalls in liquidity or units under management. Vacasa's platform fell to approximately 38,000 homes from approximately 42,000 a year earlier, reflecting what it called "ongoing churn". That is a net decline of about 9.5%, per Axia arithmetic on those two reported home counts.
Homeowner retention follows owner income. Vacasa reported increased homeowner concerns around rental income and said these factors hurt homeowner retention. It also named homeowner retention as a significant assumption in valuing its homeowner contract assets. Buyers therefore ask for owner-level payout history and contract terms, not just a unit count.
Channel mix and regulation round out diligence. Distribution partners accounted for approximately 70% of GBV at Vacasa, while its direct channel drove approximately 30% in 2024. Local ordinances can ban short-term rentals, cap annual rental days, or require registration or permission.
New York City shows how fast rules can remove inventory. New York City adopted Local Law 18 on January 9, 2022, requiring hosts to register and barring platforms from processing unregistered rentals. Enforcement began September 5, 2023. The city's first Local Law 18 lawsuit cited penalties of up to $5,000 per unregistered transaction.
What makes a strong company
The core KPIs are Gross Booking Value (GBV), Nights Sold and GBV per Night Sold. GBV at Vacasa fell 20% to approximately $1.9 billion in 2024, Nights Sold fell 19%, and GBV per Night Sold was $365. A manager that wants a premium should show the opposite pattern:
- Net unit growth after churn, with owner-level retention data to back it up.
- Occupancy at or above market; AirDNA forecasts U.S. occupancy will average 57.4% in 2026.
- A direct booking channel that reduces OTA dependence, measured against Vacasa's approximately 30% direct share of GBV.
- Every unit registered or permitted in markets with registration laws, with no exposure to platform delisting.
- Management contracts rather than master leases, given Sonder's chapter 7 filing after Marriott ended its license.
- Clustered units in a few markets, which is what franchise and local buyers are acquiring out of the Casago sell-down.
Valuation and deal structure
No EV/EBITDA or EV/revenue multiples for STR managers appear in the public filings and releases reviewed for this page. The closest honest proxy is per-share pricing and deal mechanics, not a multiple. Casago's final price was about 5.6% above its first offer, per Axia arithmetic on the original $5.02 and revised $5.30 per-share prices.
Structure carries as much weight as price. Casago's original terms let the price fall if units or liquidity missed thresholds, and both adjustment provisions were removed in the amended agreement. The Interhome terms agreed by HomeToGo included deferred payments of up to CHF 85M, payable in tranches until 2029. That is about 36% of the maximum CHF 235M, per Axia arithmetic on the CHF 150M and CHF 85M terms.
Public-company prices were low in absolute terms. Inspirato's $4.27 per-share price represented an approximately 50% premium to its December 16, 2025 closing price. Sellers of smaller managers should expect deferred consideration and unit-retention tests to come up in structuring.
Outlook
Demand looks steady and supply growth is slowing. AirDNA's midyear outlook forecasts 57.4% occupancy in 2026, above the pre-pandemic 57.0%, with demand and listings both growing 2.7% and RevPAR up 2.9%. Its December 2025 outlook had projected 4.6% listings growth, well below the 20% peak of 2021-2022.
Over the next 12-24 months, deal flow is likely to come from local markets rather than national platforms. Casago's franchise sell-down has already moved most former Vacasa units to local owners, and marketplaces like HomeToGo have shown interest in owning managed supply. Registration regimes like Local Law 18 make compliance records a gating diligence item, so managers with documented permits, retention data and direct bookings should be the easiest to sell.
Own a short-term rental management company and want a market-based reference point before talking to buyers? Run the valuation tool or review the parent category at Real Estate & Property Services M&A. See also: off-market deal sourcing channels buyers use.