Apartments.com the business was sold for $585 million. The current owner put out a press release announcing the sale today. The registrant info has not yet changed according to whois records.
Apartments.com was registered in 1996, interestingly the domain had dropped two times before. The seller Classified Ventures also owns Cars.com
Here is the press release:
Classified Ventures, LLC (“CV”), a leading provider of digital marketing solutions in the automotive and apartment rental categories, announced today that it has entered into an agreement to sell its Apartments.com business for $585 million in cash to CoStar Group, Inc., a leading provider of commercial real estate research and information services. The sale follows a September 2013 announcement that the Company and its Board of Directors would explore strategic alternatives for Apartments.com. CV was advised by Moelis & Company and Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom. The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of 2014.
The Apartments.com business includes category-leading sites such as Apartments.com, RentalHomesPlus.com, and ApartmentHomeLiving.com.
CV CEO Dan Jauernig shared: “This was a very thorough process, and we are confident that the sale to CoStar will allow Apartments.com to continue to grow and flourish. CoStar has demonstrated an understanding of the value of Apartments.com and a commitment to its growth. We look forward to working with them to consummate the sale.”
This sale will not impact CV’s Cars.com business.
About Classified Ventures, LLC
Classified Ventures, LLC helps shoppers find the perfect apartment or car through its award-winning websites, including Cars.com and Apartments.com. A strategic joint venture among five media companies including A. H. Belo Corp. (NYSE: AHC), Gannett Co. Inc. (NYSE: GCI), The McClatchy Co. (NYSE: MNI), Tribune Co. and Graham Holdings Company (NYSE: GHC), Classified Ventures seeks to capitalize on revenue growth in online advertising in the automotive and rental categories. For more information, please visit www.classifiedventures.com.
Great sale. Now they should buy Classified.Ventures from its seller on Sedo.
And if they need .info I can help 😉
…or .co.uk 🙂
… or .si
Great business built on an amazing domain. From what I read, Apartments.com has around 85 million in revenue. 585 million is a nice multiple…
Doesn’t hurt that The CoStar Group’s stock price has been on a tear lately and has doubled over the last year. Congrats to everyone involved! 🙂
I suppose that – once again – this makes my CheapApartment(s).com worth even less.
Years ago – thru representatives – these guys felt CFheapApartments.com was a better brand.
Oh Well – I guess I will just jump off a cliff.
Dot Coms Are The Best Foundation To Build upon.
not sure why people are posting their dot crappola here…
They did a great job building out that generic. Congrats to them.
@Acro,
That P.O.S. domain you just listed isn’t worth 50-cents and will NEVER be developed into something worthwhile…AND, it smells like poop.
@Ian: The multiple is about 7x, roughly, and that’s pretty good. Long ago, a friend who had a real estate company told me a 7-year period for ROI and profit was normal for real property holdings (this was the 1960’s and 1970’s he was referring to). Not that I would predicate anything upon a single sale, but this sale aligns with those old business models, and that is interesting to me, at least.
@Acro: Cute. LOL!
@worldsentry: sour grapes?
@worldsentry – I find it odd when people sniff poop. Do you do that often? Sounds unhealthy!