CoStar Acquires New Homes Data Firm Zonda

US-based real estate data, analytics and marketplace firm CoStar Group has acquired Zonda, a data, marketplace, and software platform for the new home ecosystem, for around $800 million.

CoStar Group was founded in 1986 and provides online real estate marketplaces, information and analytics for the commercial and residential property markets. One of the top ten global insights and data firms by revenue, its major brands include CoStar, a global provider of commercial real estate data, analytics and news; commercial real estate marketplace LoopNet; rentals platform Apartments.com; residential real estate marketplace Homes.com; spatial building data company Matterport; hospitality data and benchmarking division STR; commercial real estate auction and negotiated bidding platform Ten-X; and UK residential property portal OnTheMarket.

Zonda's end-to-end platform spans land discovery, homebuilding, home discovery, and home buying, and is delivered through three integrated offerings: subscription-based data and intelligence covering more than 500 housing metrics across North America; NewHomeSource and Livabl, major new-home marketplaces in the USA and Canada; and a suite of software solutions for virtual home evaluation, including visualization, customization and tours. The company has until now been owned by New York-based alternative asset manager MidOcean Partners, which says the firm has achieved more than 50 consecutive quarters of year-over-year ARR growth.

One aim of the deal is to combine Zonda's proprietary lot-level database of new home communities and construction status with Matterport's spatial technology, to develop new and improved marketing and visualization capabilities for new homes.

Zonda founder and CEO Jeff Meyers (pictured) comments: 'MidOcean's strategic insight, operational support, and capital partnership were instrumental in transforming Zonda into the platform it is today. We are excited to combine with the CoStar Group - a global leader in real estate information, analytics, and marketplaces - and look forward to continuing to deliver exceptional value to our customers as part of a larger platform with shared ambitions.' According to CoStar CEO Andy Florance, 'Zonda has built an extraordinary business with deep relationships across the homebuilding industry and one of the most valuable proprietary datasets in new home real estate.'

The acquisition is expected to close in the second half of this year and will positively impact adjusted EPS in the first full year.

Web sites: www.costargroup.com and www.zondahome.com .

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.