Zoopla Property Group is to buy residential research and analytics company Hometrack for £120m.
ZPG, owner of Zoopla, uSwitch, PrimeLocation and Property Software Group, said the acquisition brings together two of the UK’s leading residential property market insights and data providers.
Hometrack will continue to operate as a standalone brand and platform and form ZPG’s data services business, which will be headed up by Charlie Bryant, chief executive of Hometrack.
Bryant said: “We have had a long-standing relationship with ZPG and share the same vision of using data to help our partners operate more effectively.”
Established in 1999, Hometrack is an automated valuation model provider and provides analytics, valuations and data services to mortgage lenders, new home developers, investors, housing associations and local authorities.
It generated revenues of £15.5m and adjusted earnings before tax of £7.1m in the year to 30 June 2016. Over 70% of revenues are subscription-based.
The acquisition is to be financed through a combination of existing cash resources, a new £75m term loan and an equity placing of up to 5% of ZPG’s ordinary issued share capital.
ZPG said it is currently in negotiations on a potential further smaller acquisition.
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