Hostelworld parent company sold to US investor for rumoured A$320 million

Web Reservations International (WRI), the Irish company which owns Hostelworld.com, has been sold to US investment firm Hellman Friedman for an undisclosed sum rumoured to be in excess of A$320 million.

WRI was founded in 1999 when hostel owner Thomas Kennedy and software developer Ray Nolan developed the idea for an automated hostel booking service which they made available to hostels that allocated them beds.
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Based in Dublin, the company now has offices in Shanghai and Sydney and employs 93 people worldwide.

As well as Hostelworld.com, WRI also owns former fashion website Boo.com, which it relaunched as a travel site in 2007, Hostels.com, Bedandbreakfastworld.com and Trav.com. Earlier this month, Hostelworld won the Golden Backpack Award for best hostel booking engine for the second year running.

Last year, it generated net revenues of A$60 million after selling A$560 million worth of accommodation.