Hanley Wood Buys Housing Intelligence Firm

In the US, real estate information and marketing services company Hanley Wood has acquired Metrostudy - a provider of research, analytics and consulting to the housing industry - for an undisclosed sum.

Metrostudy, which was established in 1975 in Houston and provides primary and secondary market information to the housing and related industries across the country, will now be combined with Hanley Wood's Market Intelligence division, under the Metrostudy name. Hanley Wood Market Intelligence President Chris Veator, who joined the company from Thomson Reuters in August, will lead the merged business with most of Metrostudy's current executive team joining as Senior Vice Presidents - this includes Current Metrostudy CEO Mike Castleman, Jr., President Jack Inselmann and Phillip Rassel.

Hanley Wood CEO Peter Goldstone welcomes Metrostudy's 'outstanding research capabilities and broad geographic reach', and says the acquisition is 'an important step in Hanley Wood's growth strategy'. Wood has already expressed his intention to double the Market Intelligence division's current ten percent contribution to the business.

According to Veator, housing sector players need access to 'the most comprehensive and reliable data with the most sophisticated analytical capabilities' in order to make intelligent business and investment decisions. 'The combination of these two businesses will allow us to produce even better data and analytics to help our customers best decide where to invest capital and how to best mitigate risk.'

Castelman says the transaction will create opportunities for employees and customers alike, explaining: 'We will be able to leverage Hanley Wood's national media properties, integrated sales platform and sophisticated analytical capabilities, and, as a result, all of our customers will greatly benefit from enhanced and additional services and functionality.'

Hanley-Wood, which was acquired in 2005 by J.P. Morgan for $650m, was recapitalized and moved to new owners a year ago, in the process reducing its long-term debt from $440m to $80m. The ownership group is led by Oaktree Capital Management.

Web sites: www.hanleywood.com and www.metrostudy.com .