Market-leading tech platform will enhance
realtor.com® and lead generation offerings to benefit real estate
professionals and consumers
News Corp today announced that its subsidiary Move, Inc.,
operator of realtor.com®, has entered into an agreement to acquire
Opcity, the market-leading real estate technology platform that
matches qualified home buyers and sellers with real estate
professionals in real time.
The planned acquisition of Opcity, based in Austin, Texas, will
broaden realtor.com®’s lead generation product portfolio, allowing
real estate professionals to choose between traditional lead
products that offer professionals the opportunity to work leads
themselves or a concierge-based model that provides highly vetted,
transaction-ready leads, which is the expertise Opcity brings to
realtor.com®. The acquisition purchase price is $210 million,
subject to adjustments.
Digital real estate services has become the fastest growing
segment of News Corp, the most global digital property company. In
the fiscal year ended June 30, 2018, Move, Inc.’s real estate
revenues grew 20 percent, with total revenues up a healthy 15
percent for the year. Move, Inc. has nearly doubled its revenues
since News Corp’s acquisition in 2014 to $452 million in fiscal
2018.
News Corp also owns 61.6 percent of REA Group Limited, the
operator of the leading Australian residential property website,
realestate.com.au. REA holds a 20 percent stake in Move, Inc.
“Through product innovation and powerful media platforms, News
Corp is increasing its presence and capabilities in the burgeoning
digital real estate services market,” said Robert Thomson, Chief
Executive of News Corp. “We are absolutely focused on providing
high quality services to real estate professionals and to consumers
seeking to make an investment that is profoundly important to every
family.”
“Consumers and agents use realtor.com® for one primary purpose –
to buy or sell a home,” said Ryan O’Hara, CEO of Move, Inc. “This
acquisition will help us bring buyers, sellers and agents together
with as much simplicity, efficiency and choice as possible. The
addition of Opcity to our portfolio will align with our strategy to
enhance the experience of consumers, while providing our industry
partners with more opportunities to connect with clients and grow
their businesses.”
Opcity leverages proprietary data sets, applied analytics and
machine learning to more effectively capture online leads and
instantly connect transaction-ready clients with the right agents.
Utilizing a broker-centric model, Opcity has grown its U.S. client
base to over 5,000 brokerages and more than 40,000 agents since
2015. Its customers include a number of franchised brands, such as
Better Homes & Gardens, Keller Williams, ReMax, Century 21,
Berkshire Hathaway Home Services and leading independent brokerage
companies.
“This is a natural fit. Both realtor.com® and Opcity share a
common purpose of simplifying a consumer’s home buying journey,
while helping real estate professionals connect and close more
transactions,” said Ben Rubenstein, CEO of Opcity. “Together, we'll
provide an enhanced consumer experience and more choices for
brokers and their agents to grow their business.”
O’Hara added, “Both response time and matching a consumer with
the right agent results in a great consumer experience and
ultimately increases the likelihood of a closed transaction. By
pairing personalized outreach with cutting-edge technology, Opcity
has built a best-in-class platform that delivers close rates three
to five times the industry average. That’s why Opcity has been so
widely embraced by real estate agents and brokers and that is why
it’s a perfect fit for what we believe is the best digital real
estate platform in America, realtor.com®.”
After closing, Rubenstein will remain CEO of Opcity, reporting
to O’Hara.
The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions,
including regulatory approval and approval by holders of the
majority of Opcity shares.
About News CorpNews Corp (NASDAQ:NWS) (NASDAQ:NWSA)
(ASX:NWS) (ASX:NWSLV) is a global, diversified media and
information services company focused on creating and distributing
authoritative and engaging content. The company comprises
businesses across a range of media, including: news and information
services, book publishing, digital real estate services, and
subscription video services in Australia. Headquartered in New
York, News Corp operates primarily in the United States, Australia,
and the United Kingdom, and its content is distributed and consumed
worldwide. More information is available
at: http://www.newscorp.com.
About Move, Inc.Move, Inc. provides access to
unsurpassed real estate information, tools and
professional expertise across a family of websites and mobile
experiences for consumers
and real estate professionals through all stages of
the home journey. It has a perpetual license to
operate realtor.com® from the National Association
of REALTORS®.
The Move network includes realtor.com®, The Home of Home
Search℠, as well as Doorsteps®, Moving.com™
and SeniorHousingNet℠. Realtor.com® pioneered the world of
digital real estate 20 years ago, and today helps
make all things home simple, efficient
and enjoyable. Move also offers a complete solution
of software products and services to
help real estate professionals serve their clients
and grow their business in a digital world,
including ListHub™, the nation’s leading listings syndicator
and centralized intelligence platform for the real estate
industry; Top Producer®
Systems; FiveStreet℠ and Reesio as well as many
free services. For more information, visit realtor.com®.
About Opcity Inc.Based in Austin, Texas, Opcity is
modernizing the real estate industry by matching top real estate
professionals with transaction-ready home buyers and sellers in
real-time. Using proprietary data sets and applied analytics,
Opcity’s unique technology and matching algorithm turn online
inquiries into transactions, drive increases in conversion, and
provide real estate professionals with centralized insights to
effectively manage their pipelines. Opcity’s growth has been fueled
by investment from Silicon Valley-based Icon Ventures, with
participation from artificial intelligence-focused Georgian
Partners, and Texas-based LiveOak Venture Partners. For more
information, visit www.Opcity.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This release contains forward-looking statements based on
current expectations or beliefs, as well as assumptions about
future events, and these statements are subject to factors and
uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially
from those described in the forward-looking statements. The words
"expect," "estimate," "anticipate," "predict," "believe" and
similar expressions and variations thereof are intended to identify
forward-looking statements. These statements appear in a number of
places in this release and include statements with respect to,
among other things, the potential benefits of the proposed
acquisition. Readers are cautioned that any forward-looking
statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve
risks and uncertainties. Factors such as matters arising in
connection with the parties' efforts to comply with and satisfy
applicable regulatory approvals and closing conditions relating to
the acquisition could cause actual results to differ materially
from those described in these forward-looking statements. The
forward-looking statements in this document speak only as of this
date and the parties undertake no obligation (and expressly
disclaim any obligation) to publicly update or revise any
forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information,
future events or otherwise, except as required by law.
View source
version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180829005747/en/
News Corp Corporate CommunicationsJim Kennedy,
212-416-4064jkennedy@newscorp.comorMove, Inc. Corporate
CommunicationsJanice McDilljanice.mcdill@move.comorNews Corp
Investor RelationsMichael Florin,
212-416-3363mflorin@newscorp.com
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