Despegar to acquire Brazilian OTA Viajanet

Argentina-based online travel agency Despegar has acquired Viajanet, a competitor based in Brazil, for $15 million.

This marks the third acquisition of a Brazil-based company for Despegar, which operates as Decolar in the Brazil market. 

In August 2020 it bought Koin, a Brazilian online payment platform, and earlier this year it acquired a 51% stake in Stays, a Brazil-based supplier of property management solutions for vacation rentals. 

“The acquisition of Viajanet, our third in the last two years in Brazil, is another step in our regional consolidation strategy that will enable us to deploy more of Despegar’s higher-margin non-air inventory through a new brand and its customer base while bolstering our team in the country,” says Marcelo Grether, Despegar’s chief for mergers and acquisitions and new business officer.

“We expect to capture other significant synergies by leveraging Despegar’s technology platform to enhance Viajanet’s conversion rates and performance marketing capabilities, among other benefits.”

In 2019, Viajanet’s revenue was about $30 million. During 2021, the company’s online sales accounted for about 98% of total sales, with 88% of gross bookings coming in through its B2C channel and the remainder as B2B. 

Despegar also notes an opportunity to cross-sell its accommodation inventory and other non-air products to Viajanet’s existing customers – since 98% of Viajanet’s bookings were for air tickets.

“Becoming part of Despegar will give our customers access to a larger and more diverse inventory of travel products while also benefiting from the innovative technological capabilities behind its leading travel site,” says Paulo Nascimento, CEO of Viajanet.

In March, Despegar reported its most recent financial results, with adjusted EBITDA of $9 million in the Q4 2021, a 9% increase compared to Q4 2019 despite gross bookings of only 75% of that quarter’s level. The company operates in 20 countries in Latin America. 

The acquisition of Viajanet is expected to close in the second quarter of this year.