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ZPG, owner of comparison site uSwitch, has issued a statement confirming that it has tried to do a deal with rival GoCompare � the comparison website whose TV adverts are fronted by big-moustachioed tenor Gio Compario, in reality the incomparable Wynne Evans. The bid, said to have been worth �460m, was rejected. Sir Peter Wood, chairman of GoCompare, said ZPG�s bid �was highly opportunistic and fundamentally under-values the company and its prospects�. The ZPG statement yesterday said: �ZPG Plc notes the recent press speculation regarding a potential offer for GoCompare Group plc by ZPG. �ZPG confirms that it made an approach to GoCompare on 8 November in relation to a combination of the two businesses and that the approach was rejected. �The Board of ZPG is currently considering its position. �This announcement does not amount to a firm intention to make an offer under Rule 2.7 of the Code and there can be no certainty that any firm offer for GoCompare will be made, nor as to the terms on which any offer might be made. �In accordance with Rule 2.6(a) of the Code, ZPG is required, by no later than 5.00 pm on 12 December 2017, to either announce a firm intention to make an offer for GoCompare in accordance with Rule 2.7 of the Code or announce that it does not intend to make an offer for GoCompare, in which case the announcement will be treated as a statement to which Rule 2.8 of the Code applies. �This deadline can only be extended with the consent of the Takeover Panel at the request of the Board of GoCompare in accordance with Rule 2.6(c) of the Code. �A further announcement will be made as and when appropriate.� uSwitch information on a property�s likely utility costs is featured on Zoopla�s property listings. http://www.propertyindustryeye.com/zpg-confirms-it-has-approached-gocompare-but-was-turned-down/

ZPG has announced that it has signed a new long-term marketing agreement with Connells, the UK�s second largest estate agency group. Last week, it announced a similar longterm deal with the UK�s largest agent, Countrywide. As part of the new agreement, Connells, which operates almost 600 estate agency and lettings agent branches across the UK, will continue to advertise all of its property listings on the ZPG platform. David Livesey, group CEO of Connells said, �We have worked closely with ZPG for a number of years and our customers benefit greatly from the marketing exposure that our relationship with ZPG generates. �We are happy to be extending this relationship as we continue to focus on serving our clients� best interests and enhancing the digital opportunities for our business.� Alex Chesterman, CEO of ZPG, said: �Connells are an important partner for ZPG and we are delighted to be extending our relationship for the long term. �There are clear opportunities for both businesses as a result of this new agreement. �We look forward to continuing to ensure that Connells� customers get the best exposure for their properties and Connells has access to the most effective services in the market.� We understand from a recent interview with Connells that litigation between it and its brand Gascoigne Halman and OnTheMarket is ongoing. OnTheMarket did not comment but yesterday referred us to Connells. http://www.propertyindustryeye.com/zoopla-signs-up-connells-group-in-new-long-term-marketing-agreement/

Zoopla has reported that its property division is trading strongly, with agents returning to it. In a short trading update, it said it was “very pleased” with current trading. It expects revenues and EBITDA to be towards the top end of expectations when it reports its full-year results on November 29. Yesterday’s statement said: “Our property division has performed strongly, driven by a continuation of returning portal partners, strong demand for our upsell products and further migration of our software partners to cloud-based products. “Our comparison division has also traded well, reaching a new milestone of over 1m household energy switches in a 12-month period and saving consumers almost £300m off their household bills over that period. “In addition, the integrations of both Hometrack and Expert Agent into the wider business have progressed well and underpin future growth opportunities.” ZPG also announced that it has conditionally agreed to acquire financial services comparison website Money.co.uk for £80m plus a performance-based earn-out of up to £60m. Established in 2008, Money allows consumers to compare thousands of deals from over 600 providers across more than 60 product categories including mortgages, loans, credit cards, bank accounts and insurance. The business has over 2m visits per month to its website. Money generated revenues of £24.7m with an adjusted EBITDA of £8m in the year to the end of last October. Money, which is based in Cirencester, Gloucestershire, employs over 50 staff, and will continue to operate as a stand-alone brand headed by founder and CEO Chris Morling. http://www.propertyindustryeye.com/were-still-getting-agents-returning-to-us-says-zoopla-as-it-announces-strong-performance/

Zoopla has added to its stable of agency software with the announcement to the stock exchange this morning that ZPG has acquired Expert Agent. The price was not disclosed. The purchase follows the announcement on January 31 that ZPG was in negotiations on a potential further acquisition. Expert Agent is claimed to be the “most widely used” estate agency software in the industry, used by around 2,300 branches. Today ZPG said that there was a “strong fit” with the company’s overall mission and strategy to offer the UK’s most comprehensive products. Established in 2003, Expert Agent was the first UK provider to take estate and letting agency software online and provides fully cloud-based software solutions and essential systems for the day-to-day management of inventory, marketing and communications for estate agents and lettings agents across the UK. The acquisition of Expert Agent was described as part of ZPG’s continuing mission to provide the most useful resources to and be the most effective partner for UK property professionals. Expert Agent has a strong track record and experienced management team with deep knowledge of UK property and software markets. Expert Agent will continue to operate as a standalone platform and brand and the team will become an integral part of the Property Services division of ZPG. Mark Goddard, managing director, ZPG Property Services, said: “This acquisition helps us continue to enhance the services we offer to UK property professionals, including software and CRM, digital marketing and data insight tool. “We will integrate our MoveIT and MyPropertyFile products into the Expert Agent platform in time to provide its members with a range of new revenue opportunities. “Our ambition is to be the most effective partner to the UK property industry and this deal is another step towards that goal. We look forward to welcoming Mike and his team to the ZPG family.” Mike Griffiths, managing director at Expert Agent, added: “We have known the ZPG team for many years and the combination with Expert Agent will be a clear win for UK agents. “Whilst remaining an independent solution, we will now be able to take Expert Agent to the next level with the backing of ZPG by integrating its existing products and investing further in the platform to ensure our members benefit from an end-to-end marketing and software solution.” Just under a year ago – last April – Griffiths spoke out after Zoopla’s acquisition of the Property Software Group, saying that many independent agents would “want to stay with an independent software provider”. He claimed that after he sold GMW Systems, his previous estate agency software business, to the Assertahome portal in 2000, “independent agents saw through it and were not prepared to give a ‘big brother’ corporate access to their client d

Estate Agent Today has been told that a deal between the Property Franchise Group and ZPG - the new name for the Zoopla Property Group - means 100-plus branches are to return to listing on Zoopla and PrimeLocation portals in the near future. The portal company has signed a long-term marketing and software deal with the Property Franchise Group, which covers hybrid EweMove and the high street agencies Martin & Co., CJ Hole, Ellis & Co., Parkers and Whitegates. This totals some 400 offices across the country and ZPG says it expects 100-plus of them to return to Zoopla in the next few weeks. As part of the deal, the Property Franchise Group has also extended its agreement to use Jupix, the ZPG-owned software platform, for a further three years in its Martin & Co business. “This deal allows [our franchisees] to list on attractive terms on the UK’s number two and number three most-visited portals to ensure their customers get the widest possible exposure for their properties and we are looking to ensure that the majority of our franchisees select ZPG as their core marketing partner for 2017 and beyond” says Ian Wilson, chief executive efficer of the Property Franchise Group says. In a statement announcing the deal, Martin & Co’s Exeter managing director Christopher Perring says: "In December we made the decision to move away from OnTheMarket after poor lead levels and a lack of external marketing ... We re-joined Zoopla and in the first week received more leads across our sales and lettings departments than we had done from OTM in a whole month." https://www.estateagenttoday.co.uk/breaking-news/2017/2/100-plus-branches-to-return-to-zoopla-in-new-franchise-deal

Zoopla Property Group has announced it is buying Hometrack, a specialist in housing valuation data, established back 1999. This data includes home prices in UK cities, and its automated valuations. The purchase has prompted speculation among agents. The sum paid by Zoopla for the purchase is £120m, of which £108m will be paid on completion, plus £6m on each of the first and second anniversaries of the purchase. Established in 1999, Hometrack is described by Zoopla as the UK’s leading automated valuation model provider and one of the leading AVM providers in Australia, generating over 20m automated property valuations each year. According to the Zoopla announcement, Hometrack provides residential property market insights, analytics, valuations and data services to over 400 partners including mortgage lenders, new home developers, investors, housing associations and local authorities. Hometrack currently partners with 15 of the top 20 mortgage lenders in the UK as well as all four leading Australian mortgage lenders, and its UK AVM is said to be recognised by all the major ratings agencies. The business, which generated revenues of £15.5m and adjusted EBITDA of £7.1m in the year to the end of June 2016, has 55 staff operating out of offices in London and Sydney. Zoopla said that the acquisition of Hometrack “is another step in ZPG’s mission to be the most effective partner for its estate agency and new home developer partners”. It added: “The combination brings together two of the UK’s leading residential property market insights and analytics providers, creating the most valuable property resource in the UK.” The statement, which was made just after the close of stock market trading yesterday, went on: “Hometrack will continue to operate as a standalone brand and platform with the team forming the cornerstone of ZPG’s data services business, which will be headed up by Charlie Bryant, CEO of Hometrack.” Alex Chesterman, founder and CEO of ZPG, said: “We are delighted to announce the acquisition of Hometrack, the clear market leader in AVM services in the UK. “The deal gives us unrivalled capabilities to serve our estate agent and developer partners even more effectively with market-leading valuation tools and data intelligence to help them win more business. “Hometrack is a perfect fit for us and I forward to welcoming Charlie and his team to the ZPG family.” Bryant said: “We have had a long-standing relationship with ZPG and share the same vision of using data to help our partners operate more effectively. “My team and I are very much looking forward to helping develop ZPG’s data services business, further growing the quality and breadth of the services to our partners, and cementing ZPG as the market leader for residential property market insights and analytics.” http://

Results of Equity Placing Wed, 1st Feb 2017 07:02 RNS Number : 6976V Zoopla Property Group PLC 01 February 2017 THIS ANNOUNCEMENT IS RESTRICTED AND IS NOT FOR RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, IN WHOLE OR IN PART, IN, INTO OR FROM THE UNITED STATES, AUSTRALIA, CANADA, JAPAN, SOUTH AFRICA OR ANY OTHER STATE OR JURISDICTION IN WHICH THE SAME WOULD BE UNLAWFUL. PLEASE SEE THE IMPORTANT NOTICE WITHIN THIS ANNOUNCEMENT. 1 February 2017 Zoopla Property Group Plc RESULTS OF EQUITY PLACING Zoopla Property Group Plc (LSE: ZPLA) ("ZPG" or the "Company"), owner of some of the UK's most trusted home-related digital platforms including Zoopla, uSwitch, PrimeLocation and Property Software Group, is pleased to announce the successful completion of the placing announced on 31 January 2017 (the "Placing"). A total of 20,897,684 new ordinary shares in the Company (the "Placing Shares") have been placed by Credit Suisse Securities (Europe) Limited and Jefferies International Limited, acting as joint global co-ordinators and joint bookrunners (the "Joint Bookrunners") at a price of 365 pence per Placing Share (the "Placing Price"), raising total gross proceeds of approximately £76.3 million for the Company. The Placing Shares represent approximately 5.0 per cent of the issued ordinary share capital of ZPG prior to the Placing. The Placing Shares will, when issued, be credited as fully paid and rank pari passu in all respects with the existing ordinary shares of 0.1 pence each in the capital of the Company, including in respect of the right to receive all dividends and other distributions declared, made or paid after the date of issue. Applications have been made for the admission of the Placing Shares to the premium listing segment of the Official List (the "Official List") of the Financial Conduct Authority (the "FCA") and to trading on the main market for listed securities of the London Stock Exchange plc (the "London Stock Exchange") (together, "Admission"). It is expected that Admission will become effective at 8.00 a.m. on 3 February 2017. The Placing is conditional upon, amongst other things, Admission becoming effective and the placing agreement between the Company and the Joint Bookrunners not being terminated in accordance with its terms. As a result of the issue of the Placing Shares, the total number of ordinary shares of 0.1 pence each in the capital of the Company as at Admission will be 439,014,156. The Company holds 162,789 shares in treasury. Therefore, the total voting rights in the Company as at Admission will be 438,851,367. This figure may be used by shareholders as the denominator for the calculations by which they may determine if they are required to notify their interest in, or a change to their interest in, the Company under the FCA's Discl

Property Service Holdings, parent company of agency brands Romans and Leaders, have signed an advertising agreement with Zoopla Property Group. Property Service Holdings has over 150 estate agency branches across the UK and annual revenues of over £120m. The deal is significant because although Leaders does list on Zoopla and Rightmove, until now the highly successful Romans has only ever listed on Rightmove. It is thought the deal with Zoopla may have been a blow to OnTheMarket’s recruitment plans, which Romans appear to have been considering. The new agreement with ZPG covers sales, lettings, new homes and auctions across the Group’s 150 branches and will see all properties listed on Zoopla, Prime Location and ZPG’s network of over 30 additional partner websites. Peter Loverdos, chief operating officer at Property Service Holdings, said “We have been reviewing the property portal landscape for some time and as a result of the substantial marketing and innovative product ideas coming from ZPG, we decided that it is the right time to list all of our branches and properties with ZPG to the ultimate benefit of our customers. “We expect to expand materially over the next few years and need the right mix of partners to support our exciting growth strategy and we look forward to a long and productive partnership with the ZPG team.” Mark Goddard, managing director of ZPG’s Property division, said: “We are delighted to have agreed a long partnership with Property Service Holdings to cover both their leading agency brands and are looking forward to providing a range of services across their 150-strong branch network as we continue to deliver record audience levels, leads and market leading products to our partners in 2017.” Leaders and Romans, both backed by Bowmark Capital, merged under the over-arching name of Property Service Holdings http://www.propertyindustryeye.com/romans-sign-up-to-zoopla-after-years-of-listing-only-on-rightmove/

Full year results for the twelve months ended 30 September 2016 Zoopla Property Group Plc (LSE:ZPLA) ("ZPG" or the "Group"), owner of some of the UK's most trusted home-related digital platforms including Zoopla, uSwitch, PrimeLocation and Property Software Group, today announces its full year results for the twelve months ended 30 September 2016 (the "Period"). Business highlights · Revenue increase of 84% to £197.7 million and Adjusted EBITDA increase of 58% to £77.1 million · Acquisition of Property Software Group creates UK's only end-to-end solution for property professionals · Continued UK Agency partner growth up 5% (ex-Property Software Group) and listings inventory up 10% · Total number of unique Property partners including Property Software Group at 23,101 at the end of the Period · Outperformance in Comparison Services division with record levels of switching activity across every vertical · Strong traffic with over 600m visits to the Group's websites and mobile apps, of which 68% via mobile · Over 23m leads generated during the Period for Property partners including 350,000 property appraisal leads · Comparison leads up 22% over same period last year to 30.3m, helping consumers save over £320m · Invested in and partnered with a number of leading and innovative sector relevant tech start-ups · Developed market-leading new products for consumers and partners such as Running Costs and MoveIT · Relocated into our new Group headquarters bringing all our London-based teams together under one roof · Proposed final dividend of 3.7p per share, bringing total dividend for the Period to 5.2 pence per share · Since the end of the Period the Group has: o Acquired leading cloud-based estate agency website design business, Technicweb o Invested in and signed partnership with connected home insurance provider, Neos http://www.londonstockexchange.com/exchange/news/market-news/market-news-detail/ZPLA/13050712.html

Zoopla has this week hit the milestone of 8.5m combined (iOS and Android) app downloads for its Zoopla and PrimeLocation mobile apps. Zoopla also announced that during October mobile traffic made up 72% of its total traffic. The popularity of ZPG apps is also confirmed in the current rankings from Apple’s App Store, Zoopla said. Zoopla and PrimeLocation both rank in the top 100 most popular apps, with the Zoopla app being the most popular property search app in the UK currently ranking second in the Lifestyle section of the Apple App Store with a 4-star user rating. Rightmove ranks fifth with a 2.5-star user rating, PrimeLocation ranks 88th with a 4.5-star user rating and OnTheMarket ranks 136th with no user rating. With over 72% of all visits now via mobile, ZPG members continue to benefit from the strong brand awareness and continuous shift to mobile as consumers increasingly use ZPG’s apps and mobile platform to search for property at work, home and on the move. Mark Goddard, managing director of ZPG Property Services, said: “Mobile continues to explode and consumers naturally turn to their mobile devices first for property related search and research on the go. “We are delighted with the significant number of app downloads we have reached, along with our consumer ratings, and pleased we are able to offer our partners and their clients’ properties the widest possible exposure across all mobile devices.” http://www.propertyindustryeye.com/mobile-traffic-hits-72-of-total-says-zoopla/

Investment group Shore Capital says the future expansion of digital property advertising means Zoopla shares - despite recent growth - are 30 per cent undervalued. Analyst Roddy Davidson says Zoopla is well positioned to benefit from portal advertising growth and increased consumer enthusiasm for price comparison switching. "We expect attractive growth in digital property advertising, reflecting a benign market backdrop and the ongoing migration from print media as a result of the relative efficacy and value delivered by these channels" he says in a note to investors. "We are also bullish on growth in price switching activity based on several factors including rising household costs, industry marketing spend, government backing and, importantly, growing consumer trust and awareness of the scope to make significant savings." Source: estateagenttoday.co.uk

Zoopla has launched its new ‘Invest’ channel which offers consumers and would-be property investors the opportunity to gain exposure to the UK property market from £100. It is the latest step for Zoopla as it transforms from being only a property portal to a multi-faceted, one-stop property resource for consumers. The new channel on the Zoopla website includes a peer-to-peer lending solution in partnership with Landbay, where anyone can invest from as little as £100 in buy-to-let mortgages, described as statistically the lowest risk form of peer-to-peer lending. In addition, the new channel includes a tax-efficient online Property ISA in partnership with Bricklane, allowing savers to invest from £100 to own a stake in a UK property. Alex Chesterman, CEO of Zoopla, said: “Property investment has never been available to the masses before in this way, and for those looking to get on to the property ladder or saving towards a property purchase, the ability to ensure that their investments keep pace with the property market is essential.” Landbay is an FCA regulated investment vehicle that harnesses peer-to-peer technology to give investors access to UK rental property. It connects investors with experienced buy-to-let landlords, providing a competitive loan to the landlord secured against the property, in return for attractive and predictable returns for the investor. The idea is that by cutting out the banks, both get a better deal. Zoopla does point out that while Landbay is authorised and regulated, peer-to-peer lending is not, meaning that investors’ capital is at risk. Interest rates received are described as up to 3.99%.

ZOOPLA PROPERTY GROUP TO ACQUIRE THE PROPERTY SOFTWARE GROUP Another step in our mission to be your most effective partner I am delighted to announce today that Zoopla Property Group (ZPG) has agreed to acquire The Property Software Group (PSG). This is a very exciting transaction which we expect to complete in the coming weeks and reaffirms our mission to be your most effective partner. PSG is the market-leading provider of property software solutions, used in over 8,000 agency branches across the UK and providing essential workflow tools to over 40,000 estate and letting agents through its innovative cloud-based (Alto, Jupix) and desktop (Vebra, Core, CFP) software products. PSG will continue to operate as a standalone brand and platform and it is ‘business as usual’ but the combination of ZPG’s leading property marketing solutions and PSG’s leading property workflow solutions will allow us to offer you an unrivalled proposition as the UK property industry’s first end-to-end solution including software and CRM, digital marketing, market insight tools along with providing you a range of new revenue opportunities through PSG’s MoveIT platform. Our objective has always been to offer you the widest range of tools and most innovative services and this deal brings together market-leading products with a world-class team dedicated to providing you with excellent value and service and helping you to win more business. We look forward to continuing to work with you as one of your most valued partners and should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us at members@zpg.co.uk. With best regards, Alex Chesterman Founder & CEO, Zoopla Property Group

I've heard of many agents coming back, in the South West. Also over 65% of property searches are now conducted on a mobile device through an app. Zoopla have an app as does Rightmove, yet Onthmarket seem more interested in developing an overseas arm to their website than developing the most crucial tool...an app. Any agencies leaving for OTM at this point are fools. Zoopla has also created an impressive back end to their system for agents marketing material. We can now upload templates, pics and particulars and create brochures, window cards, leaflets etc..which is very useful and something neither RM nor OTM offer. They also offer direct mail/marketing whereby we can use databases to target door drops etc.. in the local area. They're developing the back end all the time which is only improving the agents experience and use of the portal, which in my opinion is a good thing.

A City analyst has said that OnTheMarket is “long on rhetoric, short on numbers”, and that it barks rather than bites. Investment bank Jefferies made its remarks in upgrading its forecasts for Zoopla on the back of its acquisition of uSwitch. Jefferies raised its revenue estimates for this year by £6m and its earnings before costs (EBITDA) by £1.5m. The bank says this more accurately reflects uSwitch’s contribution to group earnings this year, with the transaction having completed one month earlier than initial assumptions. Jefferies says that because of this, “we are tidying up our estimates ahead of the Group’s September year end”. However, Jefferies – which advised Zoopla on its stock market flotation in summer 2014 – also says that ‘housekeeping’ aside, Zoopla is doing well. In a note to investors, it says that the threat posed by OnTheMarket is waning as Zoopla grows: “Membership trends reported at the half year continue, the Group is therefore increasing its number of members, which suggests to us that the threat of On The Market (OTM) continues to wane.” The bank goes on to say that OTM is long on rhetoric and short on numbers, adding: “In our view, OTM continues to make a lot of noise in the trade press, but it is often that empty vessels make the most noise. “Despite the noise we have not seen OTM reporting actual member numbers for some time, which suggests to us that its bark is worse that its bite.” Jefferies goes on to say that if Zoopla members “continue to grow, so will our estimates”. It says: “It is our belief that if Zoopla continues to grow member numbers we could be close to the start of an upgrade cycle at Zoopla on member numbers alone. “If we couple this with a touch of ARPA growth and enhanced performance at uSwitch, the potential upgrades are, to our mind, very interesting indeed. “While we believe it is too early to speculate on the quantum of any changes to estimates, it is our assertion that the next few movements will directionally be up not down.” Last week another analyst, Goldman Sachs, hoisted its price objective for Zoopla from 250p to 276p, although keeping its neutral rating for the stock. Zoopla has a 12-month low of 150.80p and a 12-month high of 286.15p. Zoopla last year announced its full-year results in late November, and so a similar date is expected this year. It has its AGM on October 1. Report here: http://www.propertyindustryeye.com/onthemarket-long-on-rhetoric-short-on-numbers-says-analyst-as-it-boosts-zoopla/?utm_source=Estate+Agents+cleaned+up&utm_campaign=37d66f90bb-Nethouseprices_Newsletter_Agents_Sept_16_2015&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1775e60e97-37d66f90bb-133352897

Zoopla reports rise in estate agency membership and listings. https://www.estateagenttoday.co.uk/breaking-news/2015/8/zoopla-reveals-latest-figures-for-agent-membership

Zoopla launches new nationwide marketing campaign https://www.estateagenttoday.co.uk/breaking-news/2015/8/zoopla-launches-new-nationwide-marketing-campaign

'Zoopla lost initial share, but our Buy rating [of Zoopla] reflects a view this will reverse over the next few years, and we see UBS evidence lab data suggesting stabilization of its position in the last months as supportive” says the report.' https://www.estateagenttoday.co.uk/breaking-news/2015/7/portal-wars-bank-says-otms-impact-declining

Members of Zoopla Property Group (ZPG) who purchased discounted shares ahead of the firm’s Initial Public Offering last June will have the opportunity to purchase the same amount of shares to mark the one-year anniversary of Zoopla’s float. Under the terms of ZPG’s Member Offer, those who bought shares last year and still remain members of ZPG will have the opportunity to purchase shares on the upcoming IPO anniversary date (June 18) at the same fixed price of £1.76 per share. Zoopla says this will allow them to score an instant profit of over £1,000 per office based on ZPG’s current share price. Around 4,000 Zoopla members purchased £9.2m worth of discounted shares, equating to a £1.8m giveaway, according to the portal. Zoopla says it will be directly communicating with eligible members in the coming days to give details of how they can apply for the discounted shares. “At the time of our IPO last year we were happy to be able to offer our agent members the opportunity to buy shares at a discounted price and become shareholders and were delighted with the take up by our members,” says Alex Chesterman, Founder & CEO of ZPG. “Those who took us up on the offer have made a healthy profit and over 90% of them remain members today and are eligible to buy more shares at £1.76 as part of the anniversary offer. It is great that we have been able to reward these members for their loyalty with over £5.5m over the last year,” he adds. The portal has also announced that is has completed the acquisition of price comparison website uSwitch. The acquisition has gone through after ZPG received approval from shareholders and the Financial Conduct Authority. ZPG says it is now working on developing products which will directly benefit agent members by allowing them to source the best utilities deals and earn fees while saving money for their clients. The Group also says that it is planning further investments in product and marketing and enhanced consumer engagement. Chesterman describes the acquisition as an ‘important milestone’ in Zoopla’s quest to create the ultimate property market resource. “Being able to help consumers both find their next home and save money on their household bills is a great fit and we are excited about the new products that we are working on and which will create revenue opportunities for our members,” he says. Last month Zoopla announced an 11% rise in visits and a 23% fall in its number of member agents in its half-year trading statement.

Dear Member, I am delighted to announce today that Zoopla Property Group Plc (ZPG) has agreed to acquire uSwitch, the UK’s #1 price comparison website and lead generation engine in the home services sector (energy and communications). uSwitch is one of the most widely recognised and trusted brands in the price comparison space and the acquisition brings together two of the best-known and fastest growing digital businesses in the UK.We plan to continue to lead innovation in digital property by creating a single platform where consumers will research, find and manage their home which in turn will drive enhanced exposure and lead generation for our members. This is an exciting deal for our business and for ZPG members who will benefit from increased engagement with home movers and greater insight into their property requirements along with enhanced exposure to the further differentiated ZPG audience. ZPG is also developing new products that will create revenue opportunities for our members around home services switching. This transaction reaffirms our mission to be the most effective marketing partner and lead generation engine for our members by giving them a further competitive advantage. All of the above will result in even greater value for you from our current relationship, at no extra cost. We look forward to continuing to work with you as one of your most valued marketing partners and should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us at members@zpg.co.uk. Yours sincerely, Alex Chesterman