Zoopla continues acquisition drive

London-based Zoopla has closed its latest consolidation purchase, with UpMyStreet.com the latest to be folded into the company.

The deal, which has been made for an undisclosed amount, will see UpMyStreet.com users be re-directed to Zoopla.co.uk. In March the acquired company attracted 600,000 unique users to the site.

Users of Zoopla can gain free valuation estimates for every UK home with sold process and also view properties available for sale and rent. The site has 12.5 million visits a month.

The transaction represents a consolidation play for Zoopla. UpMyStreet.com offers information on local areas in the UK such as demographics, crime reports, property prices and job openings

Zoopla's last venture capital fundraising came in December 2010 when the business raised £3.25 million in a round led by Atlas Ventures and Octopus Ventures. The Series C round took its total amount secured to £7.75 million.

Since taking on investment the property website has undergone an acquisition drive which has seen it purchase the Thinkproperty.com from the Guardian Media Group, the PropertyFinder Group portfolio of websites and property technology company Byteplay.

In October 2011 Zoopla and Digital Property Group, a business owned by the holding company of the Daily Mail newspaper, announced plans to merge the two businesses and take on market leader Rightmove.com. The merger deal was given the green light by The Office of Fair Trading in April.

Alex Chesterman, founder and CEO of Zoopla, comments, 'Zoopla has had a commercial relationship with UpMyStreet.com for some time and this acquisition is a natural fit for us and allows us to further extend our audience and reach for the benefit of our members.'

Zoopla's founder Chesterman previously co-founded ScreenSelect.co.uk, which later rebranded as LOVEFiLM.com before being sold to online entertainment retailer Amazon.

Other backers of Zoopla include Nauiokas Park and angel investors Sherry Coutu, Simon Murdoch and Andy Phillips.