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.
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Interview with Mark Goddard – Group MD of GMG Property Services

Last month I had the chance to meet with Mark Goddard, the Group Managing Director for the Property Services Division. We chatted about a number of his businesses including Thinkproperty and Vebra. Today, it was announced that GMG had sold thinkproperty.com to the highly acquisitive Zoopla.

Recently we published an interview with Alex Chesterman from Zoopla.   Zoopla are also in the process of acquiring Propertyfinder.com.

Check out the interview.

zoopla.co.uk Acquires thinkproperty.com

Not only is zoopla.co.uk rumoured to be in negotiations to purchase REA Group owned propertyfinder.com, but the UK property portal and property information website has announced today that it has acquired thinkproperty.com from Guardian Media Group (GMG) for an undisclosed sum.
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Podcast Interview with Alex Chesterman – CEO of Zoopla

I recently had the chance to sit down with Alex Chesterman in London to have a chat about his business.  Recently Zoopla has hit the headlines with its announcement that it is acquiring Propertyfinder.com in the UK from the REA Group.  Alex talks about his business model and how he sees things panning out in the UK market.

Here is the podcast of that interview.

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.

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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?

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AHIPP Call for TemptMe Investigation

zoopla.co.uk’s “TemptMe” tool is again under fire. The Negotiator Magazine has revealed that the UK Association of Home Information Pack Providers (AHIPP) is calling for a government investigation into the UK property portal’s TemptMe tool, claiming it provides an opportunity for private listings.
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