NEWSbeat
PORTALS Zoopla and DPG merger finalised
It took a while, but these things often do. There will probably be pain, with consolidation and
inevitable redundancies but there always is. However, what the property industry will have is a larger, stronger, more credible portal that is set to go head-to- head with Rightmove. Alex Chesterman, Founder & CEO of Zoopla, and newly appointed CEO of the merged business, said, “The merger of these businesses is a huge step towards our goal of becoming the UK’s most useful online resource for property consumers and most effective online marketing partner for property advertisers. We still have much work to do to integrate the businesses over the coming months, but the result will be significantly enhanced experience for users and significantly enhanced value for advertisers.” David Dutton, Chairman of
Digital Property Group, and newly appointed Chairman of the merged business, said, “This is an exciting day. Our combined businesses have the scale and the resources to transform the online property sector for the benefit of consumers and advertisers alike. We are committed to providing the most innovative products and the most cost-effective advertising propositions, which will give our consumers and property advertisers a genuine powerful alternative in our market place.” This all sounds excellent –
confident, motivated people leading a powerful business – but the question agents are asking is ‘how will this impact on our businesses?’ Well, we have to wait and see. During this consolidation period, it is, says Zoopla, business as usual, but agents are, quite rightly, concerned. The positive view is that the stronger competition will force down Rightmove’s fees, the others believe it merely gives the new group a mandate to charge more. When reviewing the proposed merger, The Office of Fair Trading (OFT), asked a large number of estate agents for their views. The varied and interesting responses included that agents ‘have
6 JULY 2012 PROPERTYdrum Together they are strong, very strong.
previously switched from one to the other portal, or used the price of one when in negotiations with the other’ and respondents said they ‘had tried to leave Rightmove but returned because of the impact it had on their business’. The OFT also found that agents ‘almost unanimously perceived Rightmove as being essential, as there is no other portal comparable in reach. Vendors often request or check that an estate agent is on Rightmove before selecting their agent, doing so much less for the parties. ‘As the majority of estate agents are on Rightmove, if one chooses not to list on it they are likely to miss out on business as vendors will go to competitors which do list on Rightmove.’
Of course, this merger is not about reducing costs for estate and lettings agents, nor is it about which portals those agents prefer, it is about building a strong business that will make worthwhile profits for the shareholders.
WHO’S WHO?
A&N Media, the consumer media division of Daily Mail and General Trust plc (DMGT) now owns 55 per cent of the merged entity, with the remaining 45 per cent held by Zoopla’s former shareholders, Venture capital firms and a handful of well-respected angel investors, some of whom sit on the new Board. Alex Chesterman, Founder &
Chief Executive Officer. In 2008, Alex launched Zoopla, building on
his success with fellow director Simon Kain with LOVEFiLM, creating another internet success. He is widely recognised as one of the UK’s leading internet entrepreneurs but keeps a relatively low public profile. David Dutton, Non-Executive Chairman. David began his career starting a pizza restaurant chain, Pizzaland, which was subsequently sold. He then founded a property company which was taken to the AIM market and sold in 1989. Since then David has worked for DMGT and is currently Chairman of DMG Information. Simon Kain, Co-founder &
Chief Technology Officer. Prior to co-founding Zoopla in 2008, Simon was CTO at
LOVEFiLM.com, responsible for building the technical platform and team. Fred Destin, Non-Executive
Director. Fred joined Atlas Venture in 2004 as a Partner on the technology team focusing on software, technology-enabled services and digital media infrastructure/applications. Grenville Turner, Non-
Executive Director. Grenville is Group Chief Executive of Countrywide. Grenville has been on the Zoopla Board for several years.
James Welsh, Non-Executive
Director. James gained the ACA qualification with PWC. He joined A&N Media, a subsidiary of DMGT in 2010 as CFO with functional responsibility across the division. Kevin Beatty, Non-Executive Director. Kevin joined the Board of DMGT in 2004, and is now Chief Executive of A&N Media, the consumer media operation of DMGT. Robin Klein, Non-Executive
Director. Robin is a serial entrepreneur and early stage technology investor and is an investor in a number of the UK’s leading high-growth internet businesses including LastMinute. com, Agent Provocateur,
LOVEFiLM.com, Tweetdeck, Moo (Chairman) and Zoopla.
Zoopla founders, Alex Chesterman and (behind) Simon Kain.
WHO’S GONE? So far… Zoopla directorship changes indicate that four directors have left the (old) board:
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