Zillow Acquires ShowingTime Home Tour Platform In $500M Deal

Zillow Group Inc ZG is buying ShowingTime Inc., a provider of software for home showings, for $500 million.

What Happened: Headquartered in Chicago, ShowingTime offers a platform to automate the showing, scheduling and management process for real estate agents.

The company has a North American network of more than 1 million agents and relationships, with hundreds of Multiple Listing Services. In 2020, the company facilitated more than 50 million showings.

Seattle-headquartered Zillow said that many of its Zillow Premier Agents have used ShowingTime's platform for scheduling home tours.

The acquired company will maintain its existing data privacy policies and operate as an open platform for existing and new partners, including Dotloop and Bridge Interactive.

"We have been impressed with ShowingTime's ability to simplify a cumbersome but critical part of the home shopping experience by integrating with MLSs, agents and brokers, and giving buyers' agents an easier way to schedule showings with listing agents,"  Errol Samuelson, chief industry development officer at Zillow Group, said in a statement. 

Zillow's Q4 Results: The acquisition announcement followed Zillow Group's Wednesday report of fourth-quarter 2020 revenue of $788.9 million, down 16% from $943.9 million in the previous quarter.

However, Zillow's fourth-quarter net income of $46 million was substantially up from the third-quarter loss of $101 million. For 2020 the company posted a net income loss of $162 million.
"Zillow's strong results reflect exemplary execution and continued growth during the scary roller-coaster ride that was 2020," Zillow Group co-founder and CEO Rich Barton said in a statement.

"Many Americans who had previously dreamed of moving now have the flexibility to do so, and they flocked to Zillow in record numbers. We are investing aggressively in new technology and services to help them move. Our customers are hungry for the kind of seamless experience that we can now provide at Zillow, and we are poised to capitalize on our strong position in 2021."

ZG Price Action: Zillow shares were trading 15.39% higher to $193.13 at last check Thursday. 

Photo courtesy of Zillow.