CoStar gets Go-Ahead to Complete Purchase of RentPath

Back in February, CoStar Group Inc. showed interest in buying out RentPath, which was filing for bankruptcy at the time. RentPath operated Rent.com, Rentals.com, and ApartmentGuide.com.

The real estate data company has announced that it has gotten the okay from court to purchase the apartment marketplace, RentPath for $588 million.

On the subject of the acquisition, Marc Lefar, CEO of RentPath, said:

“We are very excited to be joining CoStar as part of the Apartments.com network. Our customers have an ever-increasing number of choices when considering where to spend their marketing dollars. With CoStar’s commitment to invest in the RentPath family of sites, we will be in a position to offer our customers the best options to reach potential renters.”

The decision was signed off by Judge Brendan Shannon of the US Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Delaware. This includes taking care of the major issue surrounding the marketplace’s chapter 11 plan. 

Andrew C. Florance, Founder, and CEO of CoStar Group, said:

“RentPath has a 30-year track record of outstanding service to the multifamily industry, developing thousands of meaningful customer relationships. 

“… Following restructuring in bankruptcy, CoStar Group expects the combined companies to benefit from synergies and plans to invest in building RentPath’s online brands and traffic to provide improved quantity and quality of lead flow to advertising clients. The Apartments.com network of sites generated 842 million visits last year, and we intend to use this valuable audience to generate leads for RentPath clients as well.”

Companies across all markets have had to put many of their plans on hold as the world dealt with the punches slung at them by the COVID pandemic. Since then, as countries have slowly eased back on lockdown orders, those plans are picking back up. 

There have been a number of company acquisitions, showing that money was an issue at the beginning of the pandemic, but with consumer demand still rising, companies have the confidence to look into these acquisitions again.