Propertyfinder MBO Fails But …

The much talked about management buyout of propertfinder.com in the UK has failed however a new mystery buyer has emerged. In a late announcement on the ASX, the REA Group & News International have entered into a non-binding heads of agreement for the potential sale of their UK online business.

Internal sources say there were three “very detailed and strong bids” however the while the existing management put in a “very impressive bid”, they were not the preferred option.

A period of exclusivity has been entered with the preferred bidder so that they can undertake due diligence and the identity of the preferred bidder might be revealed as soon as the end of next week. Given the comment in the ASX release that “if this transaction successfully proceeds to completion, it is unlikely to have any impact on the guidance (already) provided”, the offer being considered is likely to be small.

The REA Group and News International have also kept the door open to close the business or just sell the assets to the preferred bidder as they continue the consultation process with staff – a prelude to closure.

So who is the mystery bidder?

Well we don’t know who the mystery bidder is however speculation is that it could be one of DMGT, Trinity Mirror, GMG, or the outsiders Zoopla and Rightmove.

It would make sense for DMGT to buy Propertyfinder. They are currently competing with Propertyfinder as well as Rightmove and by acquiring Propertyfinder, they would remove a competitor (and distraction) from the market, gain more customers, and have a clear run at Rightmove. It is believed that the REA Group and News International came close to doing a deal with DGMT earlier this. Perhaps with the announcement of potentially closing the business, DMGT has come back with a bargain basement offer for the asset of Propertyfinder.

Trinity Mirror has made a range of acquisitions in the online property space. These include email4property, fish4homes, homemaker, homesoverseas, smartnewhomes, and zoomf. However, none are in the same league as the top 4 sites and therefore it would not be surprising to see them acquire Propertyfinder.com to add to their portfolio of companies.

Guardian Media Group (GMG) has invested heavily in market leading back end solutions with the likes of Vebra. They launched Thinkproperty a few years back with the hope of taking on the market leaders however this didn’t eventuate. There is a chance that they could be an acquirer of Propertyfinder, however this is more of an outside chance.

Zoopla has recently made a lot of noise in the UK market and is gaining some readership. While initial progress has been good, it is still to capture the levels of traffic that Propertyfinder and the other members of the top 4 have achieved. Rumours have it that they may be interested in Propertyfinder – especially from a traffic perspective. They could be a dark horse in the process.

Finally, we would be remiss if we didn’t speculate about Rightmove. Strategically, Rightmove want Propertyfinder to remain it the market. It keeps the DMGT sites of Findaproperty and Primelocation partially distracted and therefore gives Rightmove more clear air in furthering their market leadership. If they are the acquirer of Propertyfinder, expect them to keep Propertyfinder in the market as a foil for DMGT.

While the potential acquirer is unknown, our best guess is that it may be DMGT or Trinity Mirror.

1. How Zoopla Helps Rightmove and Did DMGT Get it Wrong?

   Over the last month Zoopla has clearly signalled to the market its intent to be a major player in the UK property portal market. It has snapped up Thinkproperty and Propertyfinder to clearly position itself in the top three UK portal businesses behind market leader Rightmove and DMGT’s The Digital Property Group. In the process there have been some winners and some losers. However, it is Rightmove who is likely to gain the most from this move while questions have to be asked if DMGT truly missed a game changing opportunity....

2. Zoopla Confirmed as Potential Propertyfinder Buyer

   Last week it was revealed that the Propertyfinder's management buy out attempt had failed and that the REA Group and News International had entered into a heads of agreement with a mystery party. This mystery party has now been confirmed as being Zoopla. Zoopla is a relatively new entrant to the UK online real estate market having initially launched a site around home prices and more recently moving into advertising homes for sale in the UK using the pay per lead model. Earlier this year Zoopla closed out a £3.75m capital raising. Check out our coverage of Zoopla over the last year. On reflection, this deal makes sense by providing Zoopla with a boost into being a serious competitor in the market and it gives propertyfinder.com and its team a new lease on life....

3. REA Group Considers Closing Propertyfinder

   In an announcement to the Australian stock market today, the REA Group said that it was commencing a review of their UK operations. The announcement also flagged a potential closure of all or part of the Propertyfinder business as well as the potential write down of its UAE and Hong Kong assets. They said that the likely net impact on their 2009 net profit is anticipated to be in the range of $26m to $28m. This announcement comes after the recent closure of the UK print operations and rumours circulating that the REA Group had unsuccessfully tried to sell the Propertyfinder business to DMGT and Rightmove. So what is the likely outcome?...

4. Could a Management Buy Out Save Propertyfinder?

   As reported last week, the REA Group and News International are considering closing Propertyfinder, its UK operations. Since then Nick Leeming, the Founder and Major Accounts Director of Propertyfinder, has been reported as saying that the management team, lead by CEO Gillian Kent, are mounting a rear guard action to save the business by putting together a MBO (Management Buy Out) plan. The clock is now ticking for the Propertyfinder management team as the REA Group stated that the review of the UK operations would last only 40 days. Assuming a plan can be assembled in time, what is the plan likely to look like and could a revamped Propertyfinder be profitable?...

5. Is Propertyfinder Worth Saving?

   It’s been a hectic week for the team at Propertyfinder with the REA Group and News International announcing a full review and the possible closure of the business, and the management team at Propertyfinder putting together a MBO. A cursory review of the REA Group accounts reveals that there is significant red-ink next to the Propertyfinder business. However, deeper analysis reveals that the Propertyfinder business has strong traffic, solid revenues, a strong reputation and a good management team in place. Therefore the question that arises is “Is Propertyfinder actually worth saving?” In this, our third article in the Propertyfinder series, we look at Propertyfinder and its performance in the UK market....