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Deal analysis · Proptech

CoStar Group: purchase of Zonda from MidOcean Partners for USD 800 million in cash

CoStar paid in cash, with no stock and no earn-out, for the new-home data and software provider that MidOcean Partners had controlled since 2019; a financial sponsor’s exit to a strategic buyer for a subscription business with net retention above 100%.

By Melissa Gómez Hindle ( LinkedIn opens in a new window ) · · 5 min read

On 21 August 2026, CoStar Group (Nasdaq: CSGP), owner of Homes.com and Matterport, closed the purchase of Zonda, a Washington, D.C.-based provider of new-home construction data and software for homebuilders that MidOcean Partners had controlled since 2019 through Bora Holdings. It is a US transaction that we include as a reference for the Mexican market: it is the exit of a financial sponsor to a strategic buyer, in cash, for a data and subscription business.

The transaction

  • Parties. CoStar Group as strategic buyer; MidOcean Partners as seller through Bora Holdings. Advisers: BofA and Latham for CoStar; Houlihan Lokey and Solomon Partners took part in the transaction, according to Commercial Observer (29 May 2026).
  • Instrument and price. USD 800 million in cash, with no stock component and no earn-out (CoStar 8-K, 29 May 2026).
  • Approvals and timeline. Announced on 29 May 2026; subject to HSR and foreign approvals, with an outside date of 28 May 2027; closed on 21 August 2026.
  • Asset acquired. New-home data, software for homebuilders, the Envision platform and the NewHomeSource.com and Livabl marketplaces. 2025 revenue close to USD 170 million with a 23% adjusted EBITDA margin; more than 3,000 customers, mostly on subscription; net retention of 104%; more than 50 consecutive quarters of growth in annual recurring revenue.
  • Effect for the buyer. Accretive to adjusted earnings per share in the first year. CoStar reported second-quarter 2026 revenue of USD 925 million (+18%) and USD 444 million in residential (+33%).

Value drivers

Data revenue multiple. USD 800 million on revenue of USD 170 million equals about 4.7 times revenue and, at a 23% margin, about 20 times adjusted EBITDA; both are our own calculations from the published figures, not figures from the parties.

Net retention above 100%. With 104% net retention, the installed base grows without new sales. In our reading, it is the figure that allows a strategic buyer to pay in cash and without an earn-out: post-closing execution risk is low.

Scarcity of new-home data. Zonda concentrates information on new-home supply that complements Homes.com. In our reading, CoStar is buying a position in the homebuilder segment, where the buyer’s 33% residential growth still had a gap.

Sponsor exit after seven years. MidOcean held the asset since 2019. A strategic buyer paying cash closes out the fund’s investment with no share-price risk and no contingencies.

What the market is signalling

For Mexican software and data companies serving developers and homebuilders, the reference sets the profile a strategic buyer pays a high revenue multiple for: mostly subscription, net retention above 100% and a long series of quarters of growth. In Mexico the segment is at an early stage: Lebane, a management platform for developers, raised USD 4 million in seed capital in February 2026 with 60 customers in the country (LatamList, 12 February 2026).

In our reading, the natural buyer of a housing data asset in Mexico is a portal or a listings platform with residential ambitions, or a regional player such as Habi, which already bought Pulppo in 2026. For financial sponsors evaluating the sector, Zonda shows that the cash exit exists once the business reaches a verifiable revenue scale.

G2’s reading for a mandate

Preparing the sale of software or data for the real estate sector requires bringing to the competitive process net retention by cohort, the share of subscription revenue, the quarterly series of recurring revenue and the adjusted EBITDA margin under a definition that holds up in due diligence. With those four figures, the seller can demand cash and reject the earn-out; without them, the buyer passes integration risk to the seller through the price or the structure.

Sources

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