FTC Clears CoStar Group to Close Acquisition of Homesnap
December 17 2020 - 9:00AM
Business Wire
Combining
capabilities to provide increased value to clients and the
industry
CoStar Group, the leading provider of commercial real estate
information, analytics and online marketplaces, announced today
that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has cleared its acquisition
of Homesnap, Inc., an industry-leading provider of technology
solutions to the real estate industry. CoStar and Homesnap
submitted the proposed merger for FTC review in late November
2020.
“Adding Homesnap to CoStar Group’s network provides significant
complementary value to our existing arsenal of broker and
agent-centric tools, directly benefiting the entire industry,” said
CoStar Group founder and CEO Andy Florance. “We share a common goal
of strengthening connections that drive the real estate industry
forward and are excited that regulatory review was completed so
rapidly, allowing us to close this transaction quickly.”
Homesnap powers the nation’s most productive agents who
regularly rely on having its accurate, real-time MLS information
and enhanced productivity features at their fingertips. Supported
by a consortium of hundreds of the country’s largest multiple
listing services (MLSs), more than 1.1 million real estate agents
have access to Homesnap’s free professional product, Homesnap Pro,
representing over 90% of the residential real estate agents and
listings in the United States. Homesnap’s public residential real
estate portal showcases 1.3 million active property listings and
tens of millions of home shoppers use the Homesnap website and app
to look for a home.
“We are proud to join CoStar Group and leverage their more than
30 years of knowledge and experience in property data, software and
marketing to take advantage of this significant growth
opportunity,” said John Mazur, CEO of Homesnap. “We remain
committed to our industry-friendly practices and to continuing to
deliver the most advanced products while increasing our growth
potential and accelerating our success.”
Homesnap is headquartered in Bethesda, MD, employing
approximately 150 people. It is projected to achieve approximately
$40 million of revenue for the full year 2020, representing revenue
growth of approximately 45% compared to the full year 2019. The
transaction is expected to close in the coming days in accordance
with the parties’ agreement.
About CoStar Group, Inc.
CoStar Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSGP) is the leading provider of
commercial real estate information, analytics and online
marketplaces. Founded in 1987, CoStar conducts expansive, ongoing
research to produce and maintain the largest and most comprehensive
database of commercial real estate information. Our suite of online
services enables clients to analyze, interpret and gain unmatched
insight on commercial property values, market conditions and
current availabilities. STR provides premium data benchmarking,
analytics and marketplace insights for the global hospitality
sector. Ten-X provides a leading platform for conducting commercial
real estate online auctions and negotiated bids. LoopNet is the
most heavily trafficked commercial real estate marketplace online
with over 7 million monthly unique visitors. Realla is the UK’s
most comprehensive commercial property digital marketplace.
Apartments.com, ApartmentFinder.com, ForRent.com,
ApartmentHomeLiving.com, Westside Rentals, AFTER55.com,
CorporateHousing.com, ForRentUniversity.com and Apartamentos.com
form the premier online apartment resource for renters seeking
great apartment homes and provide property managers and owners a
proven platform for marketing their properties. CoStar Group’s
websites attracted an average of approximately 69 million unique
monthly visitors in aggregate in the third quarter of 2020.
Headquartered in Washington, DC, CoStar Group maintains offices
throughout the U.S. and in Europe, Canada and Asia with a staff of
over 4,300 worldwide, including the industry’s largest professional
research organization. For more information, visit
www.costargroup.com.
About Homesnap
Based in Bethesda, MD, Homesnap was founded in 2012 to provide
residential real estate agents and consumers with an intuitive
technology that facilitates buying and selling homes. Homesnap’s
flagship professional product, Homesnap Pro, is a free software
application for real estate agents to view and manage property
listings, communicate with clients, receive market alerts and
schedule showings on their mobile devices. Homesnap collects data
from over 500 data sources and has subscription service agreements
with approximately 240 MLSs who provide data and subscription
revenue to Homesnap in exchange for free agent access to Homesnap
Pro. Homesnap also provides marketing products through its mobile
application that agents can use to promote their listings, as well
as a premium product called Homesnap Pro+, which provides agents
with enhanced functionality and business intelligence through
individual subscription agreements. The Homesnap platform contains
approximately 1.3 million active property listings, including
residential, commercial, land and other property types, covering
approximately 90% of active listings. The company also aggregates
information on property taxes, mortgages, individual property
parcels, neighborhood schools and other property data elements.
This news release contains “forward-looking statements” within
the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995. Such statements include, but are not limited to, statements
about CoStar Group's plans, objectives, expectations, beliefs and
intentions and other statements including words such as “hope,”
“anticipate,” “may,” “believe,” “expect,” “intend,” “will,”
“should,” “plan,” “estimate,” “predict,” “continue” and “potential”
or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology.
Such statements are based upon the current beliefs and expectations
of management of CoStar and are subject to many risks and
uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from the
results anticipated in the forward-looking statements and the
assumptions and estimates used as a basis for the forward-looking
statements. The following factors, among others, could cause or
contribute to such differences: the possibility that the
acquisition of Homesnap does not close when expected or at all; the
risk that the businesses of Homesnap and CoStar may not be combined
successfully or in a timely and cost-efficient manner; the risk
that business disruption relating to the Homesnap acquisition may
be greater than expected; the risk that the acquisition does not
produce the expected benefits or results for CoStar, Homesnap or
their customers and advertisers; the risk that Homesnap revenues
and revenue growth for 2020 will not be as stated in this press
release; the risk that the combination and integration of Homesnap
will disrupt CoStar Group's or Homesnap’s operations or result in
the loss of customers or key employees; uncertainty surrounding the
impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, including volatility in the
international and U.S. economy, worker absenteeism or decreased
productivity, quarantines or other travel or health-related
restrictions; the length and severity of the COVID-19 pandemic; the
pace of recovery following the COVID-19 pandemic; and government
and private actions taken to control the spread of COVID-19.
Additional factors that could cause results to differ materially
from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements can be
found in CoStar Group’s filings from time to time with the
Securities and Exchange Commission, including in CoStar Group’s
Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019,
and CoStar Group’s Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for the quarters
ended March 31, 2020, June 30, 2020 and September 30, 2020, each of
which is filed with the SEC, including in the “Risk Factors”
section of those filings, as well as CoStar Group’s other filings
with the SEC available at the SEC’s website (www.sec.gov). All
forward-looking statements are based on information available to
CoStar Group on the date hereof, and CoStar Group assumes no
obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements,
whether as a result of new information, future events or
otherwise.
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20201217005228/en/
Matthew Blocher Vice President, CoStar Group Corporate Marketing
& Communications (202) 346-6775 mblocher@costar.com
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