Vacation rental management company Vacasa has secured $30 million in financing with the option for a further $45 million.
The funding, which will help strengthen its balance sheet, comes in the form of senior secured convertible notes from an affiliate of Davidson Kempner Capital Management.
Back in May, Vacasa announced a business transformation resulting in the loss of 13% of its workforce as the company faces ongoing challenges.
In a shareholder letter announcing its second quarter 2024 earnings, Vacasa said it has “taken significant steps to reorganize and decentralize our operations into locally focused regions.”
“Each week, we are further empowering our local teams — who know our markets, owners, and guests best — by giving them more decision-making authority across many aspects of our business, including sales, onboarding, revenue management and marketing," the letter said. "This shift provides more autonomy and accountability to our field teams, and aligns our structure more closely with our localized approach to property management.”
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Vacasa added that softening demand for domestic, non-urban vacation rentals and increasing supply in short-term rental units continues to be a challenge for the business.
Gross booking value for the quarter hit $505 million, a decrease of 19% year over year, which was attributed to a 17% dip in nights sold as well as a slight dip in booking value per night sold.
Revenue for Q2 was $249 million, down 18% year over year with net loss reported at $13 million, up from $6 million year over year. Adjusted EBITDA declined $14 million to $2 million in Q2.
As a result of the new financing, Davidson Kempner will bring two directors to the board of Vacasa and may add a further two “in certain circumstances.”
The shareholder letter concluded that it's difficult to give guidance for 2024 amid the “ongoing industry dynamics, and their impact on bookings variability and average gross booking value per home.”