Offerpad to go Public with Help from Spencer Rascoff's SPAC, Supernova Partners

Phoenix iBuyer, Offerpa, has announced that Spencer Rascoff’s SPAC will purchase the company for an attractive price. 

Supernova Partners, the SPAC in question, will make Offerpad public on the New York Stock Exchange and provide the iBuyer with up to $650 million in gross cash proceeds. Offerpad will also receive a $200 million commitment from BlackRock and Zimmer Partners. But that isn’t all, the SPAC will promise $50 million from ‘Supernova affiliates’ and “up to $403 million in cash held in the trust account of Supernova,” according to a press release. 

Founded by the current CEO of the iBuyer, Brian Bair, Offerpad is poised for growth and this proposal could not be less enticing. 

Bair commented:

"I've been in real estate for decades and always knew there would be a better way to sell and buy homes. iBuying is coming into its moment, as consumers increasingly want to transact online. At Offerpad, we combine the technology that makes it possible, with local real estate experts that provide fantastic customer service to sellers and buyers—all of which allows us to turn over homes more efficiently than anyone else in the category. Our team's combination of grit and real estate experience has helped us complete around 30,000 transactions and achieve nearly $7 billion in gross transaction volume since inception, and we are now poised for fast growth as a public company."

Spencer Rascoff is the co-founder of U.S. real estate giant, Zillow, but has since left the company as CEO. And while some suspected the reason was his lack of initiative with Zillow’s own iBuyer, whether that’s true or not, he’s putting his money where his mouth is with the Offerpad deal. 

Rascoff commented:

"iBuying has barely scratched the surface of real estate, one of the biggest addressable markets in the world. In general, real estate continues to be mostly analog, in contrast to other industries like grocery, autos and pharmaceuticals, but consumers demand online solutions. As they bring more transactions online, we believe online real estate as a whole is poised to grow rapidly in the coming years and that Offerpad is incredibly well-positioned to grab a huge piece of this market."

Rascoff has entered a number of endeavors since leaving Zillow, including starting journalism company dot.LA. He has also launched two other SPACs, though neither has gone public.

Alexander Klabin, Co-Chair of Supernova; Founder and CEO of Ancient, said:

"Offerpad has a huge market opportunity, compelling unit economics and solves a large consumer need. We are impressed that the Offerpad team has built a large and efficient business with relatively little capital. As a public company, well-capitalized and positioned for growth, Offerpad will be entering its next chapter with great momentum."

Many companies around the world are working towards a public status with the help of SPACs. Recently in Asia, PropertyGuru was announced to be considering working with a SPAC, following in the footsteps of Catcha Group.