It is thought that purchasing the holiday rental groups will give Expedia some leverage to compete with Airbnb.
HomeAway itself lists more than 1.2 million properties globally and has been partnered with Expedia for two years already.
Expedia chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi said: “We have long had our eyes on the fast-growing $100 billion alternative accommodations space and have been building on our partnership with HomeAway, a global leader in vacation rentals, for two years.”
