Zillow to Issue $3.5 Billion in Stock in Merger of Online Sites
by Joe Light | Wall Street Journal
Zillow Inc. and Trulia Inc., the two online real-estate giants that announced plans to merge Monday, have a message for real-estate agents that have grown increasingly concerned about their market clout: We’re partners, not competitors.
Zillow, the most-trafficked real-estate website, agreed to buy Trulia, the No. 2 company, hoping to create a market behemoth that will dominate listings of homes for sale and other information that buyers and sellers covet.
At Zillow’s closing share price of $160.32, the company would issue about $3.5 billion in stock in the deal, which is expected to close in 2015, and value Trulia at just over $71 per share.
The concern of real-estate agents is understandable. The founders of Zillow came from Expedia about one decade ago where they eliminated the need for travel agents in booking many trips.
