CoStar Closes on $190M Ten-X Acquisition
The $190 deal will give online commercial real estate transactions a major boost.
In a deal that’s expected to give online commercial real estate transactions a huge shot in the arm, CoStar Group has closed on its previously-announced acquisition of Ten-X, a digital platform for real estate transactions, for $190 million cash.
A provider of commercial real estate information, analytics and online marketplaces, CoStar Group plans to integrate Ten-X into its LoopNet and CoStar businesses.
Ten-X brings to CoStar an established platform for digital commercial real estate transactions. Since its founding in 2009, Ten-X has conducted close to $24 billion in sales. Launched as a digital transaction platform to liquidate distressed commercial real estate assets during the Great Recession, Ten-X is expected to give CoStar an entree into the expanding distressed commercial-property market that’s being fanned by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“In the aftermath of the economic disruption which is being caused by the global pandemic, we believe that the volume of distressed properties coming to market will surge and that this combined platform will support the market’s recover,” said CoStar Group CEO Andrew Florance in a statement in May.
Though Ten-X originally focused on distressed assets, non-distressed sellers and brokerage firms also use Ten-X’s services in transactions. Among Ten-X’s platform users are Fannie Mae, Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase, Blackstone, Starwood, BlackRock, Capital One, MetLife, LNR, UBS, PNC, and SunTrust.
CoStar’s massive online commercial real estate audience, which now boasts 11 million monthly visits, is expected to greatly expand Ten-X’s auction potential—up to 40 times its current scope, predicts CoStar. With its huge global commercial real estate database and research operation, CoStar plans to dramatically increase the potential buyer database Ten-X currently uses to draw bidders to its auctions. In addition, CoStar Group has 280,000 properties offered for sale on its platforms and plans to market the Ten-X platform as an alternative sales method for brokers.