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Thursday, November 3, 2022
View Media Group (VMG) has today confirmed the acquisition of AD Group, which powers Australia’s leading off-the-plan property platforms. This follows the recent acquisition of proptech company, The Today Business.
AD Group was founded in 2014 by Jordy Catalano and Tom Hywood with the launch of the website a-d.com.au; a purpose built property portal for off-the-plan apartment developments and house & land sales. It was developed in conjunction with the property development industry and the business has been profitable since year 1.
In 2017, AD Group launched Development ID, an inventory management platform for property developers and sales agents to manage and monitor sales from across the globe in real time. More than $8 billion worth of property sales has been transacted through the Development ID portal since launch, with the platform integrated into the workflow of national property sales businesses including Colliers Residential and CBRE Residential.
This was soon followed by the launch of AD Group’s display suite technology, Showcase, which provides developers and project marketers with connected interactive sales presentation software.
VMG Executive Chairman Antony Catalano said: “The development and growth of AD Group into a market-leading real estate digital company has been a text-book example of vision, planning and execution.”
“This is a strategically important and exciting acquisition for VMG and we are thrilled to welcome, not only Tom and Jordy to the team, but also their impressive stable of industry partners and clients who have supported the rapid growth of AD Group.”
“While VMG is much more than a portal business, AD Group, along with realestateview.com.au, will be the consumer face of our group and this transaction will allow us to invest in these valuable brands, drive audiences via our partners in Seven West Media and ACM and deliver on our vision of seamlessly connecting vendors with buyers.”
“AD Group was formed after identifying a market opportunity in the developer sector that had large sales volumes but just wasn't being properly serviced by the other portals. It then partnered with many of the key operators to build a niche solution that truly delivers on the unique requirements of the developer category.”
“AD Group’s rapid expansion into inventory management tools and display suite technology to create deeper and more immersive solutions for their clients demonstrates the diversity of thinking, agility and innovation that exists within the team.”
AD Group Managing Director, Jordy Catalano said: “It's extremely satisfying after years of hard work to build a business from an idea into one that has not only been embraced by the industry but has become a destination for buyers looking for off-the-plan property, to now being given the opportunity to join VMG at such an exciting time.”
He added: “Our strategic plan was always to grow the business to a certain point and then explore our options to join a company to help take us to the next level. VMG was particularly attractive given the experience in the wider team but also the media partnerships with Seven West Media and ACM and the audiences we will be able to access as part of the group.”
“After eight years of building AD Group, often competing with many of the executives at VMG to grow our share of revenue, it's nice to finally be on the same team and to be able to work together to grow the VMG business. We couldn’t be more excited to join forces with one of the fastest growing media and technology companies in Australia.”
Co-founder & Group Director Tom Hywood said “Having worked with Antony and many of the key people at VMG during my time at Metro Media Publishing & Domain, I’m excited to join the group and look forward to AD Group doing its bit to drive value.”
“We’ve had quite the journey moving from a listings platform to now offering developers tools that help them manage their stock at all stages of the development process and then connect them with buyers through our market leading lead-generation programs. We’ve built closer relationships with our clients with more touch points and as a result we’ve seen our revenues more than double since before COVID.”
Antony Catalano continued “This transaction is another example of our ability to move quickly and bring the right businesses together that are going to drive real value to each other and the broader group.”
“We’ve already fully integrated AD Group listings onto our realestateview.com.au platform via the New Developments tab on the site; this allows those listings to enjoy the benefits of not only the AD Group audiences but also the broader property audiences that realestateview.com.au can deliver.”
“This is a perfect example of the cross-pollination opportunities that exist within the VMG ecosystem we are building.”
