CoStar Buys U.K. Commercial Property Search Portal Realla
CoStar has bought a startup which says it is the U.K.’s largest commercial property search portal.
The Nasdaq-listed U.S. firm said last week it had purchased Realla and would invest in the business to help it expand to Continental Europe.
Realla was founded in 2015 and launched in 2016 by Andy Miles and Ian Parry. It has around 90,000 listings for commercial properties for rent and for sale across the U.K. and more than 100 corporate clients. Its aim is to mirror the success portals like Rightmove and Zoopla have had in the residential sector.
On the sales side Realla has listings for assets ranging from retail units available for £40K or less, up to £90M office in Soho in London.
The company raised £1.5M in seed funding in 2017, according to Crunchbase. The two platforms will promote each others’ services.
“Across the world, marketing commercial properties is moving to digital marketplaces, away from wood-based products like magazines, flyers, and boards,” CoStar Group founder and CEO Andrew Florance said in a statement.
“We believe we can build the single most effective marketing solution for the U.K. property industry,” Realla CEO Andrew Miles said. “The commercial property sector deserves a high quality sector-specific online marketplace to better serve agents and owners.”
