WRI sold for $340mm, Nolan banks $100mm - TechCrunch

Thanks to Josh over at hostelmanagement for pointing me to the TechCrunch article confirming the terms of the WRI sale to Hellman and Friedman for $340mm netting boss Ray Nolan some $100. More at the post titled "Boo.com owner made $100m – but not from Boo". My original post on the sale plan is here. Latest financials for the business were (according to TechCrunch)

"Hostelworld was the cash cow for WRI, bringing in €18.3 million profit on revenue of €38 million from €350 million worth of transactions last year"

No wonder that Nolan's co-founder Fergal Mooney looked happy at PhoCusWright last week.

Web Reservations International (WRI) up for sale for GBP 275mm (the Times)

The Times is reporting that Web Reservations International (WRI) is up for sale with a price tag of £275m.

WRI is owned by Ray Nolan and U2 Manager Paul McGuinnes. It operates

• boo.com - the former fashion/clothing site and poster child for the dotcom bust in Europe is now a meta-search company
• Hostelworld.com - online booking for hostels, backpakers and budget accommodation
  
• Hostels.com - more hostels and backpacker bookings with content
  
• Trav.com - more budget accomm including cheap hotels, motels, guesthouses, bed and breakfasts, youth hostels, holiday apartments, campsites, inns and lodges

The Times is saying that WRI has sales last year of €38m (£35m) and made a pre-tax profit of €18.3m.

thanks to joshhostels where I spotted the story first on Twitter and Hostelmanagement where he spotted it.