Visible Lease makes a platform serving greater than 1,500 company purchasers. The acquisition bolsters CoStar’s core business actual property enterprise.
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CoStar on Tuesday continued its ongoing marketing campaign for actual property dominance, saying that it’s buying lease administration software program maker Visible Lease.
In an announcement, CoStar described the transfer as a “strategic acquisition” that shall be a boon to “corporations of all sizes.” Visible Lease will, the assertion added, particularly “enhance” CoStar’s personal rental administration platform, which is designed to assist managers automate and streamline duties akin to hire assortment and accounting.
CoStar introduced the acquisition the identical day that it printed its third-quarter earnings, which confirmed that income grew 11 % yr over yr to $693 million.
Visible Lease was based in 1996 and, in keeping with CoStar, is used immediately by greater than “1,500 organizations across the business services, construction, healthcare, manufacturing, and retail sectors.” The assertion provides that the corporate supplies help for purchasers’ groups by way of a “seamless platform that encourages strategic financial and operational outcomes for organizations.”
CoStar CEO Andy Florance celebrated the acquisition within the assertion.
Andy Florance
“Bringing Visual Lease into the CoStar Group family will allow us to create the best possible experience for our customers,” Florance mentioned. “By combining CoStar Group’s industry expertise with Visual Lease’s diverse customer base, deep lease portfolio management expertise, and leading sustainability solutions, we are well positioned to offer a more comprehensive service offering and continue growing both nationally and internationally.”
CoStar has made headlines — and enemies — lately for its aggressive push into the residential actual property trade. That push started with acquisitions of firms akin to Homesnap and Houses.com, and extra just lately has concerned an intense battle for supremacy within the consumer-facing portal house. CoStar has invested vital assets in its residential efforts and at the moment claims to be the second-most-visited portal within the U.S. after Zillow.
In Tuesday’s earnings report, CoStar reported that Q3 visitors to the Houses.com Community (i.e., Houses Community, the Residences Community and the Land Community) reached 130 million common month-to-month distinctive guests.
CoStar’s push into the residential house has occurred concurrently with extra high-profile acquisitions, together with that of 3D imaging firm Matterport earlier this yr.
The Visible Lease buy aligns with CoStar’s modus operandi of expansion-via-acquisitions. However with Visible Lease’s concentrate on company purchasers, the transfer additionally harkens again to CoStar’s roots as a business, somewhat than residential, actual property big.
Marc Betesh
In Tuesday’s assertion, Marc Betesh — Visible Lease’s founder and govt chairman — mentioned that being acquired by CoStar “marks an exciting new chapter” for his firm.
“This partnership with CoStar Group,” Betesh continued, “will allow us to propel our vision to even higher levels. I am incredibly proud of everything we have achieved since we began on this journey almost 30 years ago and am excited for all that is ahead.”
