VEGAS.com, one of the top sites for booking vacations to Las Vegas for nearly 20 years, is changing ownership.
Las Vegas-based Remark Media Inc. announced this morning in a news release that it had acquired VEGAS.com from the site's founding company, The Greenspun Corporation.
"Since its inception, VEGAS.com has acted as a trusted marketplace for travelers seeking a world-class experience in Las Vegas," said Kai-Shing Tao, chairman and CEO of Remark, in the release. "Remark will continue the tradition while also expanding the site's reach to include key partnerships targeted towards the millennial generation."
Remark, a publicly traded company that has been operating in Las Vegas since 2013, will add VEGAS.com to its diverse array of websites and digital apps, which focus on subjects ranging from health to sports to income taxes.
In an interview with the Las Vegas Sun, Tao said his company was attracted to VEGAS.com partly because of the potential to tailor it to millenials through content enhancements and development of related mobile applications and platforms. Remark, which also runs operations in China and Brazil, focuses on 18- to 34-year-olds.
"It's a younger demographic that is coming to Las Vegas now, and they are mobile-first," Tao said. "Whether it's making transactions or how they view content, everyone is all-mobile. So we saw this as an opportunity to take advantage of that."
VEGAS.com, one of the world's most popular travel websites, attracts 3.4 million visitors per month. The site offers a full range of ticketing services — travel, accommodations, shows, attractions and tours — as well as guides to Las Vegas resorts, restaurants, nightlife and more.
"VEGAS.com has built an enviable franchise of travel and entertainment offerings, and this combination creates a uniquely positioned company," said VEGAS.com CEO Steven McArthur. "With this transaction, VEGAS.com is excited to provide outstanding service and to accelerate the business."
Remark, which was located in Atlanta before moving to Las Vegas in 2013, operates a suite of websites and apps that includes the beachwear online boutique bikini.com, several tax and banking sites and a hotel-booking mobile service.
Tao said Remark initially approached members of the Greenspun family, owners of The Greenspun Corporation, two years ago about purchasing VEGAS.com. But the discussions lagged as Remark, and later The Greenspun Corporation, underwent restructurings.
Once both companies emerged from their restructurings, Tao said, the conversation began anew and negotiations got underway.
Tao said the VEGAS.com deal was significant for Remark on a number of levels.
"We've watched Vegas receive a lot of positive feedback and negative feedback in terms of becoming an up and coming technology hub," he said. "Certainly for myself, not being from Vegas, bringing a (technology) company here and building it asset by asset is exciting. And now to have the opportunity to partner up with a family with a long and exciting history in Las Vegas, then acquiring this company, now we have an opportunity to really take it to the next level."
In the release, Clark County Commission Chairman Steve Sisolak said VEGAS.com had been "instrumental in promoting the Las Vegas brand on a global basis."
"With Remark Media's purchase of VEGAS.com, we can now expect the best of two of the most influential digital media companies," Sisolak said in the release. "This is great news for the Las Vegas community, and I'm excited about the possibilities to come."