The CoStar Group, which announced in February plans to move its headquarters from Washington, D.C. to Rosslyn, announced that it will acquire California 3D technology company Matterport for $1.6 billion.
Matterport offers 3-D capture technology which delivers “dimensionally accurate, photorealistic virtual tours” for any type of property and is widely used in real estate.
CoStar Group, a real estate analytics company, operates online property marketplaces such as Apartments.com, LoopNet, CoStar, and Homes.com, all of which feature Matterport’s 3D virtual tours.
In March 2024, there were over 7.4 million views of Matterport 3D Tours on Apartments.com, according to a release. CoStar Group intends to utilize Matterport’s tours on Homes.com as well.
“CoStar Group and Matterport have nearly identical mission statements of digitizing the world’s real estate. I look forward to welcoming Matterport to the CoStar Group family and believe that we will be stronger together, in pursuit of our common mission,” Andy Florance, founder and CEO of CoStar Group, said in a statement.
“People now select their next home, apartment, office, store, hotel, or warehouse on their mobile device often without ever visiting the property. There is no better way to remotely experience space than via Matterport,” Florance said.
The transaction, which is expected to be completed during the year, is subject to the approval of Matterport stockholders and the satisfaction of customary closing conditions, including applicable regulatory approvals.
Matterport is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, and has approximately 440 employees. Revenue for last year was $158 million.
CoStar has about 2,100 employees currently in Richmond. Richmond has become the company’s research arm but also has staffers in technology, operations, software development, marketing, writing and video.
CoStar is currently building a 26-story office tower near Brown’s Island that is expected to be the tallest building in the city. It expects to have roughly 4,000 employees when the new building is finished.
CoStar reported $2.18 billion in revenue in 2022, according to the Washington Business Journal. CoStar ranked No. 20 on a list of the largest employers in Richmond last year, according to the Greater Richmond Partnership’s annual report.
Richmond City Council on Monday approved an ordinance that will refund some of CoStar’s real estate and business property taxes after the 26-story building is complete.