Daily Mail and General Trust (LSE: DMGT) has announced that its business information division, dmg information (dmgi), is buying the leading UK & Ireland property searches group DIIG Europe from the US private equity firm TPG Capital for £75m. DMGT says that the acquisition is “complementary to dmgi’s existing businesses in the property sphere” and also that it’s “consistent with dmgi’s strategy of adding products and services to enhance its overall offering.”
DIIG Europe comprises a number of companies — including SearchFlow Limited, Millar & Bryce Limited, and Decision Insight Hub Limited — whose primary business is providing residential and commercial property search results to legal professionals. In the year to 31 December 2012, DIIG Europe reported an operating profit of £6m on revenues of £69m.
Commenting on the purchase, Suresh Kavan, CEO of dmg information, said:
“Acquiring this group of outstanding companies will greatly increase our strategic reach at a time of great opportunity in the property information industry. We are delighted to welcome them to our portfolio of companies.“
And Marshall King, CEO of DIIG Europe, commented that:
“DIIG(E) is a natural fit for dmgi and we will benefit from their long term commitment to the UK property information market. We have just had a strong year achieving record customer satisfaction and offering new products and solutions from a wide range of providers to our extensive customer base in the UK and Ireland.“
At the time of writing DMGT’s share price is up over 1.5%, to 809.5p. That’s up 45% so far in 2013 and up 70% on this time last year.
