Zoopla’s parent company sold for £2.2bn

ZPG, the company behind Zoopla and PrimeLocation, is to be acquired by US company Silver Lake in a deal worth £2.2bn.

The California-based tech investor has agreed to pay 490p per share. The offer is substantially higher than ZPG’s closing price on 10 May of 375p. Since the acquisition was announced, ZPG’s shares have rocketed to 488p.

The deal must be approved by at least 75% of Silver Lake’s shareholders, though the ZPG board has approved the acquisition. Shareholders will have the opportunity to vote on the deal in June.

ZPG’s biggest shareholder is Daily Mail + General Trust, which owns a 55% stake in the business. The newspaper’s parent company is set to take £640m from the sale. Meanwhile, Zoopla founder and current ZPG chief executive Alex Chesterman is likely to pocket around £60m.

Chesterman says of the acquisition: “Silver Lake is the global leader in technology investing and I am firmly of the belief that ZPG will benefit from their technology expertise and global network which will help accelerate our growth.

“I am very excited about the opportunity this offers to our employees, customers and partners as we move to the next stage of ZPG’s development and growth.”

Zoopla is one of the UK’s most successful online property search platforms. Chesterman, who previously established Lovefilm, set up the company in 2008 and the ZPG brand has since acquired companies including uSwitch, Primelocation, Money.co.uk and Hometrack.