MRI Software completes acquisition of Simon Baker’s PropTech Group
MRI Software has finally completed its acquisition of Simon Baker’s PropTech Group after securing approval from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, Foreign Investment Review Board and Federal Court of Australia.
MRI Software has finally completed its acquisition of Simon Baker’s PropTech Group for $93.4 million (AUSD).
The PropTech Group is a major force in the Australian property software market but also operates in the UK with its VaultEA platform.
The deal, announced last year, secured approval from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB) and Federal Court of Australia earlier this month.
AMBITIOUS
Baker (main picture) is well-known as founder of Australian property portal giant the REA Group, which together with Rupert Murdoch’s News International bought the UK’s first property portal PropertyFinder.com for £14.5 million in 2005, selling it in August 2009 to Zoopla after REA reversed its ambitious global expansion plans.
The acquisition will enhance the MRI Living suite of residential sales and property management solutions.
The residential real estate industry is now a step closer to having a holistic operational view of consumers.”
David Bowie, Senior Vice President and Executive Managing Director for MRI Software in Asia Pacific, says: “This acquisition brings together two innovative PropTech companies dedicated to providing the greatest possible value to real estate agencies across Australia and New Zealand.
“The residential real estate industry is now a step closer to having a holistic operational view of consumers throughout their property life cycle.
“We’re incredibly proud to have curated such a powerful end-to-end suite of solutions to advance our industry and meet the needs of agencies and consumers alike.”
OPPORTUNITY
Joe Hanna, CEO of PropTech Group, adds: “This acquisition is a massive opportunity for PTG clients, who already enjoy the tight integration of our software. Many of MRI’s clients use PTG products like VaultRE or Eagle Software, and likewise, many PTG clients use offerings from MRI such as Box+Dice or PropertyTree.
“Now, we can innovate together to ensure the focus is exactly where it matters: on our clients.”
Probably one of the most significant synergies of 22/23 and like most of these, for the real estate industry it goes completely over everyone’s head in terms of significance.
The Proptech or digital revolution of real estate (note revolution not transformation) is now in full flow across all verticals of the property asset class, the plan, build, sale, lease and asset management classes, those like MRI are looking to capture and build the future architecture for all with strategic plays like this.