LoopNet, PropertyFirst to merge real estate sites
Advertiser Staff and News Services
SAN FRANCISCO — LoopNet Inc. and PropertyFirst.com Inc. plan to merge in a bid to survive as other commercial real estate Web sites fail.
The two firms said the new company will operate under the LoopNet name and have 145,000 sale and lease listings when it merges Web sites, data and customer bases.
"We both viewed the merger as a strategic and tactical opportunity," said John Stanfill, chief executive of Los Angeles-based PropertyFirst. "We have seen a number of our competitors, because of the difficult environment, go by the wayside. At the same time that's been occurring, each of us was gaining more momentum."
In Hawai'i, about 40 local commercial real estate companies list properties for sale or lease on LoopNet, which had become a kind of multiple listing service for the majority of Isle commercial properties. PropertyFirst is used locally to a lesser extent.
Stanfill and Dennis DeAndre of San Francisco-based LoopNet will serve as co-chairman of the new company, which will have principal offices in Los Angeles and San Francisco, the companies said. The boards of the closely held companies will have equal representation on the new company's board. Financial terms were not disclosed.
The ranks of real estate Web sites have thinned in recent months. One of the latest casualties is Zethus Inc., a Goldman Sachs Group Inc.-backed venture that said it is filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy.
Comro.com, one of the first companies to put commercial property listings on the Internet, closed in December.
PropertyFirst fired about 25 percent of its workers in November to conserve cash.
Earlier this month, it formed as alliance with CB Richard Ellis Services Inc., the largest U.S. commercial real estate services firm, in which CB will list its properties for sale or lease on PropertyFirst's Web site.
Capital sources have dried up for real estate-related technology companies, many of which are worth half or less of their valuations a year ago, Bank of America Securities analyst Lee Schalop wrote in a January report.
He predicted more mergers because of lack of capital.
