ZPG sale to US tech firm expected to complete next quarter

Zoopla Property Group (ZPG) has confirmed that it expects its sale to Silver Lake to complete in Q3 2018.

As part of its half-year results, issued yesterday, ZPG said it expects the details of the Silver Lake offer to be made available today.

There will also be a shareholder meeting on June 18 where the offer will be discussed and, subject to approval and regulatory clearances, ZPG anticipates the sale to go through at some point between July and the end of September.

On May 11 it was revealed that ZPG had accepted an acquisition bid of £2.2 billion from Bidco, a technology fund company managed by Silver Lake.

Silver Lake describes itself as 'the world's leading investment firm focused on technology and technology-enabled businesses, with around $39 billion in assets under management'.

Following the announcement, ZPG's shares rocketed by 30%, while other portals Rightmove and OnTheMarket also saw their shares boosted by the news.

Yesterday ZPG reported that its revenue for the six months to the end of March reached almost £157 million, 33% higher than in the same period last year.
Group profits were up by over 40% to £63.4 million.

Revenue for the group's property division - which includes portals Zoopla and PrimeLocation - was up by 34% to £74.9 million.

Meanwhile, the group's number of agent partners was up 7% to 15,264 branches, combining to generate a total of 928,000 property listings - equivalent to a 6% rise.

"We continue to grow our consumer engagement and to lead innovation with the launch of new tools across our platforms, helping our consumers to make smarter property and household related decisions and our partners to operate more effectively," said Alex Chesterman, founder and chief executive of ZPG.

“Our property division performed well across each vertical, helped by demand for additional products, cross-sell and new contract wins, including the continued return of agents to our portals.”

“Looking ahead, we are excited about the prospect of working with Silver Lake and the opportunity this offers to our employees, consumers and partners as we move to the next stage of ZPG’s development and growth,” he said.