Via Costar
DECEMBER 14, 2017|
London-based Owner Pulls Plug After New Management Team Completes Strategic Review of Business
The board of real estate information provider Xceligent today announced it decided to dissolve the company and file for Ch. 7 liquidation under the U.S. Bankruptcy Code.
The decision to shut down comes less than a month after Xceligent’s owner, London-based Daily Mail and General Trust plc (DMGT), announced it had written off its investment in the business and recorded an impairment charge of US$56.54 million as part of its full-year results.
At the time, DMGT installed a new management team at Xceligent and directed it to undertake a strategic review of its U.S. real estate information services business. Today, DMGT announced that the strategic review had been completed and the board made its decision to liquidate.
Prior to the decision to write-off DMGT’s investment in the business, Xceligent had invested heavily to expand into the large New York City market, but DMGT officials acknowledged during its most recent quarterly investor presentation last month that the effort had fallen short of expectations.
DMGT acquired Xceligent in 2012 and backed the firm’s planned national expansion. According to a published report, DMGT invested more than £100 million in the service in a bid to compete with its U.S.-based rival, CoStar Group. (CoStar Group is the publisher of CoStar News.)
Earlier this year, CoStar claimed it uncovered extensive evidence of unlawful copying of its proprietary information by Xceligent-directed contractors and filed suit. Xceligent counter-sued and the two firms have since engaged in a protracted legal dispute.
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