Zoopla Zapped

When a seller starts waving the price around, you know the silent bids came in light. CityAM has confirmed PR guru Russell Quirk’s exclusive - Silver Lake has placed Zoopla, its £2.2 billion trophy, in the shop window for a mere £500 million. That's a bruising 70% haircut and, perhaps more tellingly, Silver Lake are broadcasting it.

When the polite-behind-closed-doors chats don’t land, you hammer the ‘For Sale’ sign on the front lawn and hope someone bites.

First, the obvious non-buyer: CoStar. There is no way that they have not been approached to pitch for the Zoopla asset; they’re acquisitive, loaded and have every reason to try and move Zoopla out of the way of their professed target – Rightmove.

CoStar already owns OnTheMarket (bought for ~£100m, 2023) and is mid-due-diligence on Domain in Australia (~£1 billion offer, a 4.6× revenue multiple). Zoopla’s ask implies 5.6× last year’s revenues – not insane, but pricey when CoStar is already breathing down Zoopla’s neck for free. CEO Andy Florance seems happier to build OTM & bleed Zoopla than buy and babysit old tech.

Why would Silver Lake shout the price from the rooftops – and why now?

Firstly, it anchors the negotiation. £500m sets a psychological floor. Secondly, it flushes out strategics. Dubizzle, REA Group, Adevinta – “yes or no, folks?” Lastly, it recycles capital. Sexy AI investments aren’t going to fund themselves and Silver Lake would like to get more of that action.

There’s a carve-out subplot in play too, it seems.

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Alto (CRM) quietly re-branded into its own silo in January 2025. Hometrack (AVMs & data) remains glued – for now. Expect bidders to ask for a pick-’n’-mix. The potential for a carve-out is strong, with bidders likely to cherry-pick the bits they fancy, leaving the rest to slug it out in the market alone.

However, this deckchair-shifting highlights an important truth - the real battle in 2025 isn’t portal v portal, it’s portals v AI-first discovery.

When ChatGPT Deep Search can surface every UK listing, “I’m the #2 portal” isn’t a moat. Service, relationships and proprietary data are the new essentials in the world of AI. That’s a high bar even for Rightmove and CoStar – let alone a warmed-over Zoopla.

Silver Lake wants out – and fast. CoStar said “nah thanks” - at least at that price.

Expect a carve-out or a bargain bid from someone who likes cashflow and can stomach disruption. Whichever way it lands, good luck to the great people inside Zoopla – and for the rest of us? Buckle up – this is just the start of the crazy stuff, as the old guard reorients towards the new AI world and tries to protect their legacy business models …