ZPG's Hometrack sell-off gets green light from Aussie regulator

ZPG’s sell-off of the Australian arm of housing data company Hometrack to REA Group, a multinational digital firm specialising in portals and property marketing, has been backed by the competitions regulator down under.

REA Group already operates three portals in Australia - for sales, for flat sharing and for commercial units - as well as portals in Asia, including the Chinese MyFun site. Therefore its acquisition of part of Hometrack, reported to be for around £71m, required approval from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.

Now ZPG has issued a statement saying: “The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has confirmed that it will not intervene in the sale of Hometrack Australia Pty Limited to REA Group Limited, making the transaction unconditional. Completion of the sale is expected to take place in the coming days.”

ZPG acquired Hometrack in January of last year for £120m. At the time ZPG described Hometrack as having a “strong position in Australian market with significant growth opportunities”.

The initial announcement of the sale to the REA Group came shortly before the news earlier this month that ZPG - operator of Zoopla, PrimeLocation and uSwitch as well as Hometrack - had itself accepted a £2.2 billion offer to be acquired by a technology fund company, Bidco.

Bidco is a wholly-owned indirect subsidiary of funds managed by Silver Lake, which describes itself as "the world's leading investment firm focused on technology and technology-enabled businesses, with around $39 billion in assets under management."