Online real estate marketplace provider CoStar Group (NASDAQ:CSGP) announced Monday that it has reached an agreement with virtual tour software firm Matterport (NASDAQ:MTTR) to acquire all the company’s outstanding shares in a cash and stock transaction. CoStar will pay $5.50 per share, reflecting an enterprise value of $1.6 billion for Matterport.
Matterport stockholders are set to receive $2.75 in cash and $2.75 in shares of CoStar Group for each share of Matterport common stock they own.
“CoStar Group and Matterport have nearly identical mission statements of digitizing the world’s real estate,” said Andy Florance, Founder and CEO of CoStar Group. “The world has changed and today a Matterport is the new open house or property tour…CoStar Group intends to support and invest in research and development opportunities to further develop Matterport’s spatial technology, including the application of AI and machine learning to extract information from the 3D spatial data library as well as using generative artificial intelligence to imagine and reimagine physical spaces.”
The transaction, which is expected to be completed during the year, is subject to the approval of Matterport stockholders, and has been unanimously approved by the Matterport Board of Directors.
Speaking about the acquisition, RJ Pittman, Chair and CEO of Matterport added, “With CoStar Group's expansive reach and scale in property research and analytics and our joint commitment to innovation, we believe that this powerful combination will transform how properties are marketed, sold, and managed worldwide. Importantly, it offers Matterport's stockholders the opportunity to participate in the value creation and future growth prospects of our combined efforts.”
Matterport was founded in 2011, providing the first 3D capture solution to provide dimensionally accurate, photorealistic virtual tours for property. The company’s patented technology allows people to “digitize a property,” including with smartphone cameras. Matterport’s flaghship LiDAR-based Pro3 camera is another solution that allows for high-precision capture and features AI software engine Cortex.
In addition to developing and providing the technology solutions enabling virtual tours, the company has built a massive collection of property data from across the world, including over 12 million spaces from across 177 countries totaling over 38 billion square feet of property under management. This is across various real estate sectors including hospitality, residential, commercial, retail, industrial, etc. The company also boasts a wide global network of photographers, technicians and other partners that produce “3D digital twins” for properties.
Information solutions and property marketplaces operated by CoStar include Apartments.com, LoopNet, CoStar, and Homes.com, all of which feature Matterport’s 3D virtual tours. An early adopter of Matterport’s technology, CoStar already features around 300,000 Matterport digital twins across its marketplaces.