HomeAway Prepares for $300 Million IPO

Vacation rental giant HomeAway.com is getting ready to go public this summer in an IPO valued at an estimated $300 million. The company has selected Morgan Stanley, Deutsche Bank, JP Morgan Chase, and Goldman Sachs to manage the offering. The offering is a further sign the IPO market may be coming back from the dead.

Lofty valuation aside (it's hard to imagine the multiple they're commanding when they only charge property owners $300 a year for their service, but I'll withhold judgment until I see the S-1), this is a very cool company. Those of you who've been reading my stuff for a while know that I'm huge into travel, and these guys are a big part of my global strategy. Some of you may even remember my recommending them back in October of 2009. In that particular case it was Vacation Rentals By Owner, but that's just another one of their sites. In fact, I'm using HomeAway this weekend for a little getaway to Bruges.

I'm using them again for a Mediterranean villa in Spain over the summer, and I've used VRBO for years in the Redneck Riviera back in the States. I've always been completely satisfied, and it beats the hell out of hotels.

Here's hoping the IPO does well (and, more important, is priced well). If you guys have any travel planned over the next few months, check them out. I'd wager you can get a pretty nice house or condo for about the same amount as a hotel, and that's a big plus if you're like me and you like your space (or, like me, often travel with dogs).

And if I run into any midget whoremongers in Bruges this weekend, I'll be sure to take pictures for you.

My dad would've been 80 today. Happy birthday, Pop. I miss you.