Wyndham Worldwide today announced that its Exchange & Rentals business unit, the worldwide leader in vacation exchange and the world’s largest full-service vacation rentals business, has acquired James Villa Holidays from the private equity fund Vespa Capital. James Villa Holidays has a strong presence across the Mediterranean villa holiday market offering accommodations along with other travel services and products to the UK market. The acquisition price is approximately $77 million, subject to adjustments.

With this acquisition, Wyndham’s Vacation Rentals business further expands the scale and scope of its vacation rental program in France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Greece, Cyprus and Malta. James Villa Holidays’ inclusion into the Wyndham Vacation Rentals portfolio also will create a strong position to expand across further Mediterranean countries and provide additional travel options and benefits for consumers and villa owners alike.

“The acquisition of James Villa Holidays is consistent with our strategy to invest in fee-for-service businesses and represents another step forward in our strategic plan to grow our presence and leadership position within the global vacation rentals market,” said Stephen P. Holmes, chairman and CEO, Wyndham Worldwide. “We continue to see the value of and invest in opportunistic acquisitions that support our growth and returns targets and thus optimize our capital deployment.”

“We are absolutely thrilled to welcome James Villa Holidays into our growing vacation rentals business. James is an exceptionally strong, trusted and high-profile vacation brand with a fantastic team of professionals who we welcome to Wyndham Worldwide,” said Geoff Ballotti, president and CEO, Wyndham Exchange & Rentals. “With more than 50 destinations and approximately 2,300 villas and unique properties across the Mediterranean and Balearic vacation hot-spots, James offers hand-picked and inspected properties, along with air travel, car hire and other travel services. James presents us with a strong addition to our global rental platform, bringing exciting new destinations and upscale lodging offerings.”

“We are very excited to join our efforts with such a trusted, successful and reputable organization as Wyndham,” added Tony Wheble, CEO, James Villa Holidays. “James Villa Holidays’ mission has been focused on providing customers the best-of-the-best holiday destination options and the necessary tools to make the planning process as simple and seamless as possible. Together with Wyndham, we look forward to continuing this mission of assuring customers a holiday they can ‘book with confidence’ and that they’re protected every step of the way to the vacation of their dreams.”

Wyndham Worldwide retained Kirkland & Ellis for corporate legal services related to this transaction.