CoStar Group announced that is bowing out of the multi-billion dollar takeover bid for CoreLogic after the firm’s board rejected CoStar’s latest offer, valued at over $7 billion.
In February, CoStar made an offer to acquire CoreLogic for close to $97 a share, roughly 20% higher than the accepted offer Stone Point Capital and Insight Partners made earlier that month, which was about $80 a share, all in cash.
The updated bid put CoreLogic’s share price closer to $90 a share, a move the CoreLogic board did not feel was “superior” to its prior bid.
“We appreciate your inclusion of cash consideration that, as we expressed in our prior letter and had discussed with you previously, helps to provide greater certainty of value. However, $6 per share in cash does not meaningfully reduce CoreLogic shareholders’ exposure to the concerning volatility of your stock,” said Frank Martell, president and CEO of CoreLogic in a letter to Andrew Florance, CoStar’s CEO and president.
Because of rising interest rates that will affect the refi mortgage market, CoStar said CoreLogic’s value had declined, and it was done negotiating. About 50% of CoreLogic’s revenues are tied directly to mortgage volumes.
“With interest rates moving up, now is not the time for us to aggressively buy into the residential mortgage market,” Florance said in a statement.
Since the summer, CoreLogic had been battling with investors who jointly own or have an economic interest equivalent to approximately 15% of CoreLogic’s outstanding common stock. In a July letter sent to CoreLogic’s board of directors, Cannae Holdings and Senator Investment Group proposed buying the firm in an all-cash offer for $66 a share.
The investors dropped the CoreLogic takeover bid on Nov. 2 after CoreLogic confirmed it was exploring multiple offers to sell at or above $80 per share. Cannae and Senator still exerted pressure on shareholders to fully replace the board with their own nominees.
A compromise was reached on Nov. 24 following a proxy vote was held that replaced three of the 12 directors on CoreLogic’s board with that of the investment groups’ nominees.
Though no formal announcement has been made by CoreLogic, Stone Point Capital or Insight Partners, Florance congratulated the investment companies on their successful bid to acquire CoreLogic.
Also this week, a judge in Delaware ruled that CoStar will have to pay a $52 million break fee to RentPath after its failed acquisition of the residential rental portal.
RentPath pulled out of a $585 million deal in December, after federal regulators sued on the grounds that it would violate antitrust laws. Redfin announced last month that it would buy RentPath for $608 million, pending approval from bankruptcy court and the Federal Trade Commission.
