Silver Lake to buy property websites Zoopla, PrimeLocation for $3 bln

U.S.-based private equity firm Silver Lake Management Company has agreed to acquire ZPG plc, the owner of British property websites Zoopla and PrimeLocation, for 2.2 billion pounds ($3 billion). Under the terms of the deal, each ZPG shareholder would get 490 pence in cash, which implies a premium of 31 percent to ZPG's Thursday close, Silver Lake said in a statement on Friday.

ZPG directors, who are being advised by Credit Suisse and Goldman Sachs, consider the terms "fair and reasonable", ZPG said in the joint statement.

ZPG's largest shareholder and publisher of Britain's Daily Mail newspaper, Daily Mail and General Trust (DMGT), said it gave an irrevocable undertaking to accept Silver Lake's offer in respect of its entire holding -- which amounts to 29.8 percent of ZPG's issued share capital.


The deal is expected to close in the third quarter of 2018, the companies said.