The newly enlarged company will be headed up by Alex Chesterman, Zoopla’s Founder & CEO, who will continue in the role of CEO and David Dutton, former Chairman of Digital Property Group, will become its Chairman.
Integration of the businesses is now underway, although expected to take some months to finalise. In the meantime, it will be business as usual for both companies, which we will be operated separately until the integration has been completed. Once fully integrated, the enlarged business will have an unrivalled position in the UK online property market in terms of audience, brands, partnerships, products and proposition.
Each of the existing brands of the combined business - Zoopla.co.uk, FindaProperty.com and Primelocation.com - will continue to operate for the foreseeable future. The employees from both businesses will be combined to form a single world-class team and, as a result of the merger and the duplication of certain roles, a formal consultation process is now underway with the staff of both businesses.
Alex Chesterman, Founder & CEO of Zoopla, said:
“This merger is a huge step towards our goal of becoming the UK’s most useful online resource for property consumers and most effective online marketing partner for property advertisers. We still have much work to do over the coming months, but the result of integrating these businesses will be a significantly enhanced experience for our users and significantly enhanced value for our advertisers.”
David Dutton, Chairman of Digital Property Group, said:
“This is an exciting day. Our combined businesses have the scale and the resources to transform the online property sector for the benefit of consumers and advertisers alike. We are committed to providing the most innovative products and the most cost-effective advertising propositions, which will give our users and members a genuine powerful alternative in our marketplace.”
