Zoopla could be up for sale, media reports speculate
The portal could be sold as parent firm ZPG is broken up, although a spokesperson insists 'it's business as usual'.
Zoopla could be up for sale according to media reports which suggest the portal’s owner ZPG is to be broken up.
ZPG’s multi-brand business includes Houseful that operates Zoopla and property information business Hometrack, as well as another division that runs comparison site Uswitch.
Now, ZPG’s private equity backer, Silver Lake Partners, has hired two investment banks – JP Morgan and Arma Partners – to advise on the sale of parts of the business, according to Sky News.
ZPG was bought for £2.2 billion in 2018, in a move that saw Silver Lake snap up all the company shares.
Speculation around this is not a surprise.”
A Zoopla spokesperson told The Neg: “As part of the normal course of business, the board that oversees the ZPG group of companies regularly evaluates and sometimes engages specialist advisers to assess opportunities to best position the businesses for long-term growth and success.
“Speculation around this is not a surprise. It is a sign of a healthy set of businesses across ZPG and underscores the strength of what they offer to customers and the value we continue to build. For Zoopla, it’s business as usual.”
Private equity
Dan Coatsworth, Investment Analyst at AJ Bell, told The Neg: “Private equity firms are rarely long-term owners of assets, and they typically seek to exit after seven or eight years.
“Selling ZPG as a combined entity might be hard but splitting it up into chunks could be a lot easier to find a buyer.”
Exactly a year ago, the Rightmove board rejected a series of offers from Australian property portal REA Group in September, which is owned by Murdoch’s News Corp.
And in April this year, REA’s owner Rupert Murdoch was reported to have considered another bid to buy Rightmove, but abandoned the plan.
