The board of OnTheMarket PLC (AIM:OTMP) has agreed to a £99 million takeover by US real estate information and analytics group CoStar Group (NASDAQ:CSTG).
The move follows comments by CoStar's chief executive earlier this month that it plans to allocate a portion of its US$9 billion 'war chest' to consolidating European property portals.
CoStar UK has offered a price of 110p in cash per share for OnTheMarket, which is a 56% premium to the last closing price and above the 80p one-year high.
OnTheMarket said the deal has the support of shareholders holding 29.51% of its shares, including its six largest shareholders.
Directors said they consider the terms of the acquisition to be fair and reasonable and said they intend to recommend unanimously that shareholders vote in favour.
Chris Bell, chair of OnTheMarket, said the offer "recognises the quality of OnTheMarket and the significant potential of the business, while offering shareholders an attractive opportunity to realise their investment at a substantial premium to the prevailing share price".
The UK residential property platform, which was founded by a group of estate agents in 2015, also reported interim results for the six months ended 31 July, showing revenue up 1% to £16.9 million with average revenue per advertiser (ARPA) down by 2%.
Adjusted EBITDA of £3.1 million was in line with the prior year, while a pre-tax loss of £0.1 million was reported compared to a £0.4 million profit last time.
The company said the macro-economic backdrop remains challenging for the property market, pointing to lower transaction volumes, stubborn inflation, high cost of living, higher interest rates and a reduction in average house prices.
The board expects this to impact its estate agency customers' businesses, particularly discretionary spending which may in turn impact annual revenue.
A strong balance sheet was highlighted, including net cash of £11.5 million and no borrowings.
Chief executive Jason Tebb said: "We are pleased with our performance in the first half, despite the difficult market conditions."
In the second half, the group said it will focus on customer retention and acquisition, which the board believes will accelerate growth in future periods, while maintaining a level of marketing spend to maximise portal traffic and lead generation for customers.
"As a result of these factors and decisions, our previously stated aspiration of growing both revenue and profits from last financial year may not be realised."