ZPG Ltd

ZPG Ltd is a British real estate company, owned by Silver Lake Partners.[2][3] ZPG stands for Zoopla Property Group. It focuses on providing users with access to information such as sold house prices, area trends & statistics and current value estimates for domestic and commercial properties in the UK.

ZPG Limited
Zoopla Property Group
TypePrivate
IndustryInternet, real estate
PredecessorFindaProperty.com
FoundedJanuary 2008 (January 2008)
FoundersAlex Chesterman
Simon Kain
Headquarters
London
,
United Kingdom
Number of locations
United Kingdom
Area served
United Kingdom
Key people
Charlie Bryant, CEO
ServicesProperty and Comparison search websites
Revenue£317.3 million (2018)[1]
OwnerSilver Lake Partners (since 2018)
Number of employees
700
ParentSilver Lake Partners
DivisionsPrimelocation
SubsidiariesZoopla.co.uk
Websitezpg.co.uk

Its brands include the property website Zoopla, price comparison service Uswitch, finance comparison website Money.co.uk,[4] personal finance content site Bankrate UK, PrimeLocation and Hometrack.[5] Alongside these sites, Zoopla also owns several industry brands providing services to estate agents. These include Jupix, Alto, Expert Agent and Ravensworth. ZPG PLC was listed on the London Stock Exchange until it was acquired by Silver Lake Partners in July 2018.

History

The company was originally founded as Zoopla in 2007 by Alex Chesterman and Simon Kain. Chesterman and Kain also founded ScreenSelect (later LoveFilm). [6] The Zoopla website was launched in January 2008. Zoopla was backed by Accomplice, Octopus Ventures and other investors.[7][8] In July 2009, Zoopla acquired property website Thinkproperty.com from the Guardian Media Group.[9]

In August 2009, Zoopla acquired the PropertyFinder Group, consisting of the websites Propertyfinder.com, Hotproperty.co.uk and UK Property Shop, from prior owners the REA Group and News International for an undisclosed sum.[10] These businesses had combined annual revenues of £7m. In January 2011 Zoopla acquired the historic database of UK house prices HousePrices.co.uk.[11]

In October 2011, Zoopla and Digital Property Group, the subsidiary of A&N Media, operating property websites Primelocation.com, Globrix.com and FindaProperty.com, merged their respective businesses. In May 2012, Zoopla acquired property information website UpMyStreet.com.[12]

In June 2012, Zoopla and its constabularies formed Zoopla Property Group Ltd.[13] In December 2012, Zoopla acquired property information website Globrix.com.[14] In Spring 2013, Stephen Morana, formerly of Betfair Group Plc, was appointed new Chief Financial Officer (CFO).[15] Zoopla's biggest shareholder, the Daily Mail and General Trust floated Zoopla on the London Stock Exchange in June 2014.[16]

In June 2015, Zoopla bought the price comparison website Uswitch.[17] In February 2017 the company changed its name to ZPG plc.[18] In September 2017, Zoopla purchased the financial services comparison website Money.co.uk for £140 million.[19][20]

In May 2018 US private equity firm Silver Lake Partners made a $2.2 Billion bid for the company.[21] The transaction completed in July 2018.[22]

Operations
Footballer Youssouf Mulumbu wearing a West Bromwich Albion shirt endorsed by Zoopla in 2013

ZPG owns a searchable directory of UK residential properties. It uses various open sources including the Royal Mail's postcode database, the HM Land Registry's data on property transactions in England and Wales, and Google maps.

Based on this data, Zoopla has developed an automated valuation model, powered by Hometrack, that provides a computed valuation estimate for UK residential properties. Zoopla also allows users to claim their home or set a TemptMe price, similar to US website Zillow. Its analogue for valuing the Internet properties is DNPric.es. The accuracy of Zoopla's computed valuations is disputed.[23][24]

Sponsorship

ZPG sponsored West Bromwich Albion Football Club from 2012 [25] to January 2014. Founder Alex Chesterman, who is Jewish, decided to remove support of the club after an allegedly anti-Semitic gesture from player Nicolas Anelka made headlines.[26]

See also

References
  1. "Fast Track Company Details". Zoopla. Retrieved 24 June 2020.
  2. "Britain's Zoopla, PrimeLocation bought by Silver Lake for $3 billion". Reuters. 11 May 2018. Retrieved 11 May 2018.
  3. Lucy White. "Zoopla's parent group ZPG looks set to be taken over by US private equity firm Silver Lake for £2.2bn". CityAM. Retrieved 11 May 2018.
  4. "Subscribe to read". Financial Times. Retrieved 2017-10-29. Cite uses generic title (help)
  5. Khan, Mehreen (2017-01-31). "Zoopla snaps up Hometrack in £120m deal". Financial Times. Retrieved 2017-10-29.
  6. "About Zoopla!". Retrieved 2008-07-26.
  7. "Our portfolio – Zoopla". Retrieved 2008-07-26.
  8. "Business Digest". The Times. London. 2009-01-18. Retrieved 2009-01-18.
  9. Sweney, Mark (2009-07-15). "Zoopla buys Thinkproperty.com from Guardian Media Group". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 2009-07-28.
  10. Sweney, Mark (2009-08-07). "News International sells PropertyFinder website to Zoopla.co.uk". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 2009-08-08.
  11. "Zoopla acquires Houseprices.co.uk". Retrieved 2016-01-19.
  12. "Zoopla acquires UpMyStreet.com – Zoopla". Retrieved 2012-11-08.
  13. "Zoopla and Digital Property Group merger completes". 1 June 2012. Retrieved 8 September 2014.
  14. "Zoopla acquires Globrix as it steps up battle against Rightmove". Estate Agent Today. Retrieved 8 September 2013.
  15. "Zoopla Property Group taps Stephen Moran as new CFO". CFO Insight.
  16. "Zoopla float to value property website at £919m". The Guardian. 18 June 2014. Retrieved 8 September 2014.
  17. "Zoopla to buy Uswitch price comparison site". BBC.
  18. "Zoopla Property Group changes name to ZPG". Property Portal. 7 February 2017. Retrieved 2 June 2017.
  19. "Zoopla is buying financial comparison site Money.co.uk in deal worth up to £140 million". nordic.businessinsider.com. Retrieved 2017-10-06.
  20. "Zoopla buys the financial services of Money.co.uk in deal worth up to £140m". Express.co.uk. 2017-09-08. Retrieved 2017-10-06.
  21. "Zoopla's parent group ZPG looks set to be taken over by US private equity firm Silver Lake for £2.2bn". City AM. 11 May 2018. Retrieved 21 July 2018.
  22. "Court sanctions £2,2 billion ZPG deal". Inside Media. 10 July 2018. Retrieved 21 July 2018.
  23. "What's your property worth?". lovemoney.com. Retrieved 3 April 2015.
  24. "Estate Agent Today". estateagenttoday.co.uk. Retrieved 3 April 2015.
  25. "West Bromwich Albion". Historical Football Kits. Retrieved 2 February 2014.
  26. "Nicolas Anelka: West Brom sponsor Zoopla to end deal". BBC Sport. 20 January 2014. Retrieved 2 February 2014.
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