Real Estate Marketing & Beyond
The commercial real estate information company CoStar Group Inc. yesterday announced they were to land an $890 million takeover of the San Francisco-based LoopNet Inc. commercial property listings website.
CoStar executives gathered told news reporters at a press conference that LoopNet’s focus on available commercial property was compatible with the company’s market intelligence services.
“We managed to revolutionize the way industry professionals research real estate in the commercial sector, while LoopNet was responsible for revolutionizing commercial real estate marketing,” said CoStar president Andrew Florence.
“We believe that by combining our companies, the commercial real estate market can utilize the full advantages that the internet has to offer,” he concluded of the deal, which is expected to be completed later this year.
CoStar hopes that its takeover of LoopNet will allow them to increase their customer base to around 160,000 users and become the online marketplace for commercial real estate.
There are almost 4.8 million users registered with LoopNet, which operates a subscription-only information database. The company, which employs more than 300 people in both Monrovia and San Francisco, will continue to operate independently.
Richard Boyle, CEO and Chairman of LoopNet, said that “Both companies are at the cutting edge of their businesses with regards to innovation, and together we will be even stronger.”
Simpson, Thatcher & Bartlett LLP acted as CoStar’s legal representative, while J.P. Morgan played the role of the company’s financial advisors during the deal.
Since its merger, Loopnet has more than 11 million monthly unique visitors, and 10x the traffic of its closest competitor, LoopNet properties for sale is by far the most visited network in the United States and abroad.
Loopnet is currently affiliated with Marcus & Millichap real estate brokers with a base in Independence OH.
