LONDON--U.K. real-estate website operator Zoopla Property Group
on Thursday became the latest high-profile Internet company to
announce plans to float on the London Stock Exchange, in a listing
expected to value the company at more than GBP1 billion ($1.69
billion).
The company, which is 52.6%-owned by the newspaper publisher
Daily Mail & General Trust PLC, didn't say how much it plans to
raise in the initial public offering or give its expected market
capitalization.
DMGT said it would sell part of its stake in Zoopla, which
claims to have more than 40 million visits a month to its websites
and mobile applications. Estate agents LSL Property Services PLC
and Countrywide PLC also said they would reduce their stakes.
On a call with reporters, Zoopla's founder and Chief Executive
Alex Chesterman declined to give details about the pricing of the
IPO.
However, analysts at Liberum Capital, a brokerage, said they
valued DMGT's stake in Zoopla at about GBP575 million, suggesting
the company could be valued at more than GBP1 billion.
Zoopla, which advertises properties on behalf of estate agents,
reported revenue of GBP38.3 million for the six months to March 31,
a rise of 26% on the year.
The company, which was founded in 2007, generates the vast
majority of its revenue by charging about 19,000 member estate
agents monthly subscriptions to advertise properties. It said it
plans to drive further growth by launching websites aimed at the
overseas and commercial property markets, as well as introducing
products and services using its data on historic sales transactions
and property listings.
However, Mr. Chesterman said during the call with reporters that
Zoopla will continue to concentrate on the U.K. market following
its stock exchange listing.
"We're not ruling out the possibility of doing something in
other territories at some point in time but for the time being
we're focused on the U.K.," he said.
He said Zoopla is benefiting from the shift from print to online
advertising and that people are increasingly accessing Zoopla
through mobile devices, such as smartphones, with mobile traffic
accounting for nearly 60% of visits.
The company's plan to list comes despite jitters among other
Internet-related stocks that have floated recently, including
online fast-food delivery group Just Eat PLC, whose shares have
fallen sharply since April's initial public offering. Zoopla
expects its shares to start trading in June and to be included in
the FTSE 250, with a media sector classification.
Zoopla could use the money it raises to better compete with
Rightmove PLC, a property-website operator that listed in London in
2006 and reported revenue of GBP139.9 million for 2013.
Write to Rory Gallivan at rory.gallivan@wsj.com
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