Aussie online booking platform Rezdy sells to US private equity firm

Rezdy has been sold to a US private equity firm in a deal understood to be worth over $100 million, according to The Australian Financial Review.

Founded in Sydney in 2011 by French expat Simon Lenoir, Rezdy was originally conceived by Lenoir when he took a break from his IT job at French multinational Schneider Electric. He then got a holiday job giving scuba lessons to French tourists in Thailand and was soon promoted to manage the dive centre.

“The first year, I had a lot of fun, I was diving every day with customers. Then the second year, after I had the promotion, I was suddenly spending all my time taking bookings over the phone and over emails, and it was not fun any more,” he said.

My background in IT made me realise that if there was a booking software available, it could all have been automated and done online, so when I emigrated to Australia, that was my idea.”

Rezdy makes money via its software subscription fees and takes a share of transactions booked on the platform.

The sale of Rezdy to an undisclosed private equity operator has come as welcome news to not just Lenoir, but also to Lez Szekely, who wrote Lenoir his first funding cheque when he met him through the Sydney Angels network. Szekely was also an early investor in Siteminder, which functions similarly to Rezdy, but for hotel bookings instead of tours and activities.

“I first heard Simon pitch at a ‘deal screening’ meeting, and he didn’t even make the shortlist to be able to pitch to a full members meeting. He had only been in Australia for a short time, and his accent and lack of local knowledge and connections probably hampered his presentation,” Szekely said.

“However, I liked the substance of what he was trying to communicate. I approached him for a chat after his pitch and the rest is history.”

Lenoir said his decision to step back from the company has not been easy and that he still sees himself in the start-up game.

“I think retirement is very, very overrated. I’m in my mid-40s, and I have still got a lot of energy. I have got one, maybe two more start-ups in me,” he said.

“I will stay in Australia now, my family is here and the only thing French about Rezdy was my accent.”

Featured Image: Simon Lenoir, founder of Rezdy