Zoopla Property Group has acquired uSwitch, widely considered to be the UK's leading price comparison website.
It also generates high volumes of leads for energy and communications firms, which Zoopla says it wants to fuse into agency leads, too.
The deal is worth £160 million plus a performance-based earn out' for existing management of up to £30 million.
In a statement to the City this morning ZPG says it plans to continue to lead innovation in the digital property space by creating a single resource where consumers will research, find and manage their home.
Agents already with Zoopla will benefit from what the site calls increased engagement with home movers and greater insight into their property requirements - along with a potentially much larger audience, too.
ZPG says it is also developing new products that will create revenue opportunities for its members around home services switching.
ZPG chief executive Alex Chesterman says: This is a transformational deal for our business and our members. With the plans we have to develop our services, consumers will have a single resource for all their property needs and this enhanced engagement with our users will create unique advantages for our members. This acquisition is a natural next step in the evolution of property portals, creating the ultimate property platform for our users and the most effective lead generation engine for our members.
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Comments
Silence is golden...
Never said you were - did I
Come on then - WHY do you think they're not very good
[b]Would or could [/b]you be a Member if they ticked more of your boxes
I'm not an anti-OTM lobbyist, I just don't think they're very good :)
And of course anti-OTM lobbyists have a completely balanced viewpoint...
Thanks Jonathan
Two fruit cakes Are you sure, high praise indeed :)
Sounds fair :)
Sadly, OTMers don't tend to believe stats that don't suit their agenda.
100% agree with Simon Shinerock. As does the Stock Exchange, Zoopla shares up 17% today.
Zoopla are clearly moving even further away from being a supplier to agency and more to a data supplier.
Oh, Real Agent - that's a bit unkind.
To fruitcakes.
You are a fruitcake, Praise enough
Praise for my poetry
What is uSwitch
A desperate attempt to divert attention from the publication of the fact that you've lost almost 1 in 4 - 23% of your clients and that to mitigate this you reward your remaining loyal ones with a 13% increase in your ARPA - aka charges!! This has left me more convinced than ever that ZPG is now a busted flush.
"PeeBee don't be a sore loser..."
I haven't lost [b]anything[/b], Mr Shinerock. What have [b]you[/b] 'won'
"A service that includes all the essential services you need to change when you move home would be good."
Such as... Estate Agents, perhaps
And... you wouldn't maybe - just maybe - peddling such a service, perhaps
Well I respectfully suggest you go back to the drawing board. A quick search on your woeful site in my local area brings up Estate Agents that have been CLOSED FOR OVER A DECADE.
Try disrupting another industry - one you know more about.
Sewage comes to mind immediately...
Willy by name Wonka by nature
Amazing how Simon 'the go to property/tech investor/entrepreneur'Shinerock, thinks this is going to be a good thing for agents.
Astonishing!
PeeBee don't be a sore loser, if you can't win yourself then back a winner. The thing is, change is happening whether you like it or not, I recently wrote two poems on the the subject (3 stanzas each)
Change is strange in all its ways
It leads us blindly through the Maze
It haunts our nights and rules our days
Change is constant not a phase
And yet we act like all is still
The world will bend around our will
Our pockets full of lies we fill
We are not ready for the bill
But the Piper must be paid
His tunes into the darkness fade
A contract drawn a promise made
A price we cannot long evade
Change is coming feel it's chill
Close your eyes it's coming still
We can't stop it by our will
So learn to love it take your fill
Every season has its time
We cannot live in Summertime
Autumns coming on the breeze
Leaves are falling from the trees
Winters coming cold and bright
Short the days long the night
Spring will again appear
Sunny mornings bright and clear
We are nothing know it well
If theres more then time will tell
The only time we have is now
Change is coming with a bow
PeeBee & Simon, the both of you mention OTM - What is that A service that includes all the essential services you need to change when you move home would be good.
Mr Shinerock - you can schmooze (credit: Robert May) all you like with Z - but I firmly believe that one day you will come to the stark realisation that you are just another number to them.
It's whether you act on that realisation that is the question - and today I doubt the answer would be that you would.
Congratulations to Alex and the team, the first of many examples of how a real business led by a real businessman can make real progress. The choice between Zoopla and OTM is progression versus regression, a point I have tried to make from the start.
"Zoopla Property Group has acquired uSwitch..."
Thats very kind of them making it easier than ever before for all its remaining Members to move over seamlessly to OTM! ;o)