Tebb to stay in charge at OTM after takeover

New OnTheMarket owner CoStar has confirmed Jason Tebb (main picture) will remain as CEO following the £100m takeover by the property data group.

CoStar Group also said there will be no overall job cuts once the buyout is confirmed by OTM’s shareholders.

Tebb and the other members of the senior management team at OTM will lead the portal’s drive to become the number one listings service.

Expertise

CoStar revealed it plans to spend £46.5 million on sales and marketing in the first full year following the takeover, which is six times current spend.

In a statement to the Stock Exchange, the company said: “CoStar greatly values the skills, knowledge and expertise of OnTheMarket’s existing management team and employees, and recognises their important contribution to the achievements of OnTheMarket as a business.

“CoStar expects that the senior management and employees of OnTheMarket will continue to contribute to OnTheMarket’s success and does not intend to initiate any material headcount reductions within the current OnTheMarket organisation”.

Accelerate

Tebb said when the takeover was announced yesterday: “From a position of strength, partnering with CoStar Group will significantly accelerate our strategy with the clear target of becoming the market leader, whilst staying committed to fair and sustainable pricing.”

In its interim results announced at the same time as the CoStar takeover, OTM said revenue increased by 1% with ARPA down by 2%.

Adjusted EBITDA of £3.1m was in line with the previous year, and adjusted operating profit of £1.1m was down 15%.