CoreLogic sells HomeVisit for stake in Canadian buyer, Urbanimmersive
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Quebec-based Urbanimmersive sees an opportunity to double its revenue and cross-sell other CoreLogic products as it continues to expand its presence in the U.S.
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CoreLogic has sold real estate photography and virtual tour provider HomeVisit to a Canadian company, Urbanimmersive Inc., in exchange for a 19.9 percent stake in its new strategic partner.
The deal to acquire Chantilly, Virginia-based HomeVisit for $6.5 million ($9 million Canadian), “will be the most important acquisition made by Urbanimmersive since its inception in 2007,” the company announced Tuesday.
Based in Saint-Hubert, Quebec, Urbanimmersive is a publicly traded company that sees an opportunity to double its revenue as it continues to expand its presence in the U.S. and cross-sell other CoreLogic products.
Urbanimmersive had previously beefed up its U.S. presence in December, by acquiring IMOTO and RocketPhoto for $5 million Canadian ($3.62 million U.S. at current exchange rates).
Executives at Urbanimmersive see the HomeVisit acquisition as strategic, “as it will significantly expand the company’s presence in many regions in the U.S., brings new product offerings and is setting the table for significant growth and cross-selling opportunities with CoreLogic Group.”
Urbanimmersive generated $4.07 million in revenue (Canadian) in all of 2021, but a string of recent acquisitions helped boost revenue for the quarter ending June 30 by 159 percent to $2.85 million.
Ghislain Lemire
Acquiring HomeVisit, which posted $7.83 million in 2021 revenue, is expected to double Urbanimmersive’s revenues, and “makes us a clear leader as a tech-powered real estate photography service business in North America,” CEO Ghislain Lemire said, in a statement.
Lemire said the terms of the deal with CoreLogic “enable us to not use our working capital in short and mid-term, giving us the necessary leeway to build value for our investors. We are also happy and feel privileged to welcome CoreLogic as a strategic partner and shareholder of Urbanimmersive.”
As has been the case with previous acquisitions, Urbanimmersive says it won’t do away with the HomeVisit brand. But day-to-day operations of HomeVisit will be integrated into the company’s enterprise application, allowing customers to use Urbanimmersive’s online ordering system.
CoreLogic announced it would buy HomeVisit in 2018 as part of an acquisition spree overseen by former CEO Frank Martell that also included a la mode technologies, ClosingCorp and NextGear Solutions. Martell stepped down as CEO in January, six months after CoreLogic was acquired for $5.9 billion by Stone Point Capital and Insight Partners.
On its website, HomeVisit says its technology has been used for more than 20 years to help market upwards of 360,000 listings, 20 percent of which were valued at more than $1 million. HomeVisit says it’s served up more than 90 million virtual tour views over the years. In addition to photography, video and 3D modeling, HomeVisit provides property websites and print and direct mail marketing services.
Integrations with CoreLogic’s listing management platform Matrix and property insights platform Realist provide an opportunity for HomeVisit to continue cross-marketing those and other products.
Devi Mateti
“I am very pleased, along with our HomeVisit and CoreLogic teams, to partner with Urbanimmersive Group,” said CoreLogic Managing Director Devi Mateti in a statement. “For us, Urbanimmersive has clearly demonstrated to have robust business solutions to successfully integrate HomeVisit, add value to our mutual customers buying experience while bringing state-of-the-art 3D and floor plan solutions. We could not have found better hands to take care of HomeVisits’ customers.”
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