Sweetome buys out 100% shares in two travel startups

Chinese share accommodation arm of Tujia.com buys out 100% shares in CityHome and iYOUJIA.com.

Sweetome Group, a shared accommodation operation spin-off from Chinese online short-term lodging rental unicorn Tujia.com, has bought out 100 per cent shares in two domestic vacation rental startups, CityHome and iYOUJIA.com, representing the latest acquisitions to promote a further consolidation in the country’s burgeoning home rental market.

Along with the two acquisitions, Sweetome Group also received a strategic investment from New York-listed Chinese online classifieds platform 58.com, China Renaissance announced in a recent statement released on its WeChat official account.

China Renaissance, which has advised on a number of high-profile technology mergers and acquisitions in China, served as the exclusive financial advisor of the deal.

The two acquisitions “will further strengthen Sweetome Group’s business layout in the urban homestay market, and provide more abundant and high-quality brands for householders and consumers to choose from,” said Luo Jun, Co-Founder of Tujia.com and Sweetome Group, in the statement.

The deals are expected to promote “the chain operation and standardization” of the shared accommodation market in China, he added.

Set up in 2011 and spun off from Tujia.com in 2015, Sweetome Group acquired the two domestic vacation rental upstarts as an indirect move to rope in a cluster of their investors, which are all existing and mature players in the market, such as Airbnb and Nasdaq-listed Chinese online travel agency Trip.com.

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