Loopnet Inc. (LOOP) stock price vaults on acquisition news

Loopnet Inc. (Nasdaq: LOOP) shares surged 28.5% to $18.46 a day after CoStar Group Inc. (Nasdaq: CSGP) said it would buy the online commercial real-estate service for about $860 million in cash and stock. CoStar shares gained 6.4% to $65.32. Volume for LoopNet was 9.6 million shares, dwarfing an average daily volume of just around 150,000.

In connection with the merger agreement, LoopNet shareholders will receive $16.50 in cash and 0.03702 shares of CoStar Group common stock for each share of LoopNet common stock, representing a total equity value of approximately $860 million and an enterprise value of $762 million. The boards of directors of both companies have unanimously approved the transaction which is expected to close by the end of 2011.

Also released Wednesday, LoopNet’s revenue for the first quarter of 2011 was $20.7 million, compared to $20.0 million in the fourth quarter of 2010, and $18.8 million in the first quarter of 2010. Net income applicable to common stockholders for the first quarter of 2011 was $1.8 million or $0.04 per diluted share, compared to $2.3 million or $0.05 per diluted share in the first quarter of 2010.

LoopNet CEO Rich Boyle said, “CoStar and LoopNet have been at the cutting edge of innovation in their respective businesses and we believe the two companies will be even stronger together.”

Boyle concluded, “This transaction combines the capabilities and best practices of two successful and very complementary companies. We are excited about the possibilities that can be created together.”

Tags: buzz stocks, CSGP, Financial Stocks, LOOP, nasdaq

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 28th, 2011 at 4:41 pm by Glenn and is filed under Financial Stocks. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.