In what is a huge move in the the UK online property landscape, the Digital Property Group Ltd and Zoopla Ltd have just announced agreement to merge their respective businesses.
In a deal they say will deliver enhanced value and performance to both their users and members and will create a credible challenger to long-standing market leader, Rightmove.
In a joint release, the two companies stated that the merger is set to be a big win for estate agents and housebuilders across the UK, creating a clear alternative in a market that has had a single dominant player for a number of years. The combined business will be in a position to offer a superior value proposition and wider exposure and is expected to result in an audience to rival Rightmove, delivering at least as many enquiries to its members.
And for consumers either searching for property to buy or rent or doing market research, the combination will deliver a number of benefits including significantly greater coverage of property listings and enhanced features to help empower them with the resources that they need to make better-informed decisions in the UK residential property market.
The merger will bring together a complementary set of brands including Findaproperty.com, Zoopla.co.uk and Primelocation.com.
Alex Chesterman Founder and CEO of Zoopla said “This deal will be transformational for both businesses allowing us to compete effectively in a market where it takes significant investment to challenge the current market leader. But more importantly, the deal will deliver real value forUK estate agents and developers and we will be in a position to provide them with the widest possible exposure and be their most cost-efficient marketing partner.”
Mark Milner, CEO of the Digital Property Group also said “The combined strengths of both businesses will result in world class products and a team that continues to lead innovation for property consumers and agents alike. The focus will remain on providing market-leading products for our users, and an excellent service in terms of value and performance for our members, and this deal will allow us to deliver even further on that mission.”
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Increased competition against the monopolist position held by Rightmove can only be a good thing but on the condition that the competition is focused on it’s goals. I would hope that the newly merged portals see that a unified approach with some realistic pricing is what the marketplace wants. The newly merged portals have an obvious opportunity to merge into a single portal with new brand and challenge the dominance of Rightmove, if they stay as they are with multiple identities then I fear they will for the foreseeable future just be moping up the “Rightmove and one other” market.
Whereas it might be good news for property sales, the rental side of the industry is best served by innovative players like ourselves http://www.rentdirectuk.co.uk, who offer tenants a quicker easier way of finding rental property
All in all probably good news – although I do hope their brands still retain thei own identities. I can’t help feeling that Rightmove’s virtual monopoly in recent years,when it comes to getting the product across to potential buyers, has allowed them to treat agents a little unfairly on occassion. This move should mean agents have an alternative to rightmove and hopefully will force Rightmove to treat agents a little better.
Whilst it is good that there could be the creation of a new portal that could rival Rightmove, I am concerned that that this may not necessarily be a good thing for estate agents. If there are two ‘super’ portals it is going to become increasingly hard for other portals to compete or enter the market and it could even lead to a situation where the two portals collude and hold the price up instead of competing against each other.