Expert Agent
-
Latest property news
CMA clears ZPG acquisition of Expert Agent
The sale of Expert Agent to ZPG has been cleared by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) following a three-month investigation into the deal, which it called in at the end of March. ZPG had bought the company earlier that month but the deal was almost immediately called in for review by the CMA via an enforcement order under section 72(2) of the Enterprise Act 2002, after which shares in ZPG dropped. Expert Agent was acquired by ZPG from a venture capital firm called Metropolis, which in turn bought the firm from founder Mike Griffiths (pictured, left)in 2004. He continues to work at the company. ZPG says that now that the transaction has been given a green light by the CMA, it will now proceed with its integration plans for the business, although it will “continue to operate Expert Agent as a standalone brand and platform”. “We are delighted but not surprised by the outcome of this review by the CMA,” says Mike Goddard, Managing Director of ZPG’s property division (pictured, right) “We always felt that the UK property software sector is well-served by numerous players who offer strong, effective competition and are pleased that the CMA has come to…
Read More » -
Agencies & People
ZPG purchase of Expert Agent to be reviewed by competition watchdog
ZPG’s purchase of software company Expert Agent earlier this month has been called in by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) and is now under review, prompting shares in ZPG to drop this morning. The CMA has served an initial enforcement order to ZPG under section 72(2) of the Enterprise Act 2002. The announcement was made by ZPG this morning, saying that “having been informed of the review and the order ZPG is now engaging in a consultation with the CMA and will make a further announcement in due course”. The move has been widely anticipated within the industry after ZPG acquired Expert Agent – which trades under the name Websky Ltd – from private equity firm Metropolis. It in turn bought the company off founder Mike Griffiths in 2004. The ZPG acquisition of Expert Agent gave it a substantial slice of the UK agent software market, as it had already bought Property Software Group in April 2016. PSG at the time of acquisition by ZPG claimed to be used by over 40,000 estate agent letting agent branches across the UK, while Expert Agent is used by over 2,500 branches. The CMA has been in the warpath within the property…
Read More » -
Latest property news
ZPG buys up another agent software supplier
ZPG has bought Expert Agent, the cloud-based agent software workflow system used by 16,000 negotiators in over 2,500 branches that was started up in 2004 by former estate agent Mike Griffiths (pictured, below) and sold to a private equity firm in 2013. This means ZPG now owns two former rivals in the agent software business; it bought PSG last year for £75 million, based on annual profits of £5.1 million. Griffiths, who is 55 years old, says he ‘drifted’ into writing agency software for his own sales and lettings outfit during the late 1980s before turning it into GMW Systems, which he subsequently sold to former Rightmove rival assertahome.com in 2000. That has now happened again with Expert Agent, which ZPG has bought from the private equity firm for an as-yet undisclosed sum based on a turnover of £3 million and which it says has a ‘strong fit’ with its ‘mission and strategy’. ZPG also says it also likes the company’s highly experienced team ‘with deep expertise of UK property and software market’. “We have known the ZPG team for many years and the combination with Expert Agent will be a clear win for UK agents,” says Mike Griffiths. “Whilst…
Read More »
