Savor the irony: A blank-check company started by Spencer Rascoff is bringing an iBuyer, Offerpad, public.
Offerpad, a Phoenix-based company, said Thursday that it was bought by a Rascoff-controlled special purpose acquisition company, named Supernova Partners Acquisition Company.
Supernova Partners will shepherd Offerpad onto the New York Stock Exchange, according to a press release. The deal will provide the iBuyer with “up to $650 million in gross cash proceeds,” per the release.
Offerpad will also receive a $200 million commitment from private equity investors such as BlackRock and Zimmer Partners. And the deal pledges $50 million from “Supernova affiliates” and “up to $403 million of cash held in the trust account of Supernova.”
The seven-year-old Offerpad – founded by the company’s present CEO Brian Bair – describes itself as a lean operation looking to accelerate growth.
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“Offerpad’s experienced tech and real estate leadership team created a highly efficient ibuying business, while raising less capital than competitors,” the release reads. CrunchBase data says Offerpad raised $155 million prior to Thursday’s announcement.
Rascoff is the co-founder of Zillow, but he departed as company CEO in early 2019, replaced by another company co-founder, Rich Barton.
One reported reason for Rascoff’s exit was – get ready – that he did not do enough to grow Zillow’s iBuying program, Zillow Offers.
Under Barton, Zillow has since pivoted hard to iBuying. He has said not doing so would represent an “existential crisis.” The majority of the company’s 2020 revenue and expenses came from Zillow Offers.
Since leaving Zillow several years ago, Rascoff has had multiple business forays including starting a Los Angeles-based journalism company that covers tech, dot.LA.
He also launched two other special purpose acquisition companies, neither of which has yet found a partner to take public.
Offerpad, meanwhile, plans to go public less than one year after OpenDoor, another instant homebuying platform, started trading on Nasdaq.
