We wanted to be the first to share the news with you.
Today, it was announced that Market Leader is being acquired by Trulia.
For anyone unaware, Market Leader is the parent company of ActiveRain and is the leading provider of Internet based customer relationship management & marketing software in the residential real estate industry. Trulia is a leading online destination for real estate, enabling real estate professionals to communicate with hundreds of thousands of transaction-ready home buyers and sellers each month. The combined company will have more than 135,000 software customers using Market Leader software AND more than 31 million home buyers and sellers that visit Trulia each month.
So, what does this mean for ActiveRain members?
Not much actually.
It will be business as usual at both ActiveRain and Market Leader. ActiveRain will continue to operate as ActiveRain. Market Leader will continue to operate under the Market Leader brand and continue day-to-day operations largely unchanged. We are all excited about this deal, and the entire ActiveRain team will continue with the same responsibilities as before.
Over time, we expect that we will be able to offer you various additional products and services that will arise from integration of the two companies’ products.
Stay tuned as there are great things to come. Bob, Kerrie, myself and the rest of the team here at ActiveRain will be monitoring this blog post all day. Feel free to leave us a comment or ask a question.
Below are some links to press coverage of our announcement:
Jump to Comments
Legal Disclaimer - Forward-Looking Statements
Statements made in this communication and related statements that express Market Leader, Inc’s (“Market Leader”) or our management’s intentions, hopes, indications, beliefs, expectations, or predictions of the future constitute forward-looking statements, as defined by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, and relate to matters that are not historical facts. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements because they contain words such as “may,” “will,” “should,” “expects,” “plans,” “anticipates,” “could,” “intends,” “target,” “projects,” “contemplates,” “believes,” “estimates,” “predicts,” “potential” or “continue” or the negative of these words or other similar terms or expressions that concern Market Leader’s expectations, strategy, plans or intentions. These statements include those regarding the closing of the merger transaction, the expected timing of the merger transaction and the potential effects of the merger transaction, including if it does not close.
These statements are not guarantees of future performance or events and are subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions that could cause actual results or events to vary materially from those indicated in this communication, including: the ability to obtain regulatory approvals of the merger transaction on the proposed terms and schedule; the failure of Market Leader’s shareholders to approve the merger transaction; disruption to our business, including customer, employee and supplier relationships resulting from the merger transaction; the effect of the merger transaction on pricing, spending, third-party relationships and revenues; and other factors described in Market Leader’s reports filed with the SEC, including our annual report for the year ended December 31, 2012 and subsequent quarterly reports filed with the SEC, which risks and uncertainties are incorporated herein by reference. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this communication. Except to the extent required by law, Market Leader disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements after the distribution of this communication, whether as a result of new information, future events, changes in assumptions, or otherwise.
Important Additional Information about the Proposed Transaction
This communication does not constitute a solicitation of any vote or approval. This filing is being made in respect of a proposed merger transaction involving Trulia, Inc. (“Trulia”) and Market Leader. In connection with the proposed transaction, Trulia plans to file with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) a Registration Statement on Form S-4 that will include a proxy statement of Market Leader, Inc. that also constitutes a prospectus of Trulia.
Market Leader, Inc. will mail the proxy statement/prospectus to each of its shareholders. THE JOINT PROXY STATEMENT/PROSPECTUS TO BE FILED WITH THE SEC RELATED TO THE PROPOSED TRANSACTION WILL CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT TRULIA, INC, MARKET LEADER, INC., THE PROPOSED TRANSACTION AND RELATED MATTERS. INVESTORS ARE URGED TO CAREFULLY READ THE JOINT PROXY STATEMENT/PROSPECTUS AND OTHER DOCUMENTS TO BE FILED WITH THE SEC (OR INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE INTO THE JOINT PROXY STATEMENT/PROSPECTUS) IN CONNECTION WITH THE PROPOSED MERGER, WHEN AVAILABLE.
Investors and shareholders will be able to obtain free copies of the joint proxy statement/prospectus, when it is filed with the SEC, and other documents filed by Market Leader with the SEC through the website maintained by the SEC at www.sec.gov or by contacting Market Leader Investor Relations at ir@marketleader.com. In addition, investors and shareholders will be able to obtain free copies of the documents filed with the SEC on Market Leader’s website at www.marketleader.com (which website is not incorporated herein by reference).
Participants in the Acquisition of Market Leader
Market Leader, Trulia and their respective directors and officers and certain other members of management and employees may be deemed to be participants in the solicitation of proxies from its shareholders in connection with the merger transaction. Information regarding these persons who may, under the rules of the SEC, be considered participants in the solicitation of Market Leader’s shareholders in connection with the proposed merger transaction will be set forth in the Registration Statement on Form S-4 and proxy statement/prospectus described above when filed with the SEC. Additional information regarding Trulia’s executive officers and directors is included in Trulia’s definitive proxy statement, which was filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on April 29, 2013, and additional information regarding Market Leader’s executive officers and directors is included in Market Leader’s definitive proxy statement, which was filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on April 15, 2013. You can obtain free copies of these documents from Trulia or Market Leader using the contact information above.
Add Me on Google+, Follow Me on Twitter, Connect with Me on LinkedIn:
|
Actually I thank AR for the training and I hope that this training will be sufficient to generate my own leads to a point where I won't need their solutions. Better still, there will be this 'visionary' that will appear and help us all through this.
That said, I did spent a considerable amount of time on Zillow years back being one of it's Top Contributors on their message boards to consumers regarding loan questions, only to be Thrown Under the Bus with their New Fee initiatives for both Loan Officer and Realtors.
Let's just hope that AR through it's new owner does not follow suit whether it's monetary or otherwise.
Thanks for the update.
Rebecca - With business as usual for all of us, it's up to you to look at what best fits your needs. You'll find very honest and transparent views on both sides here in the 'Rain so hopefully that can help you make a good decision.
Long and short, Trulia and or any company has only one objective...... money.
If they can't make it in some way from their investment, they will create a format in which they can, so until the cashflow for them has been established they will leave things alone..... after that who knows.
With Zoocasa having made a huge leap into Canada with Rogers, I suspect Trulia's hands may have been forced to get their value and momentum going in the right direction, and them buying market leader from their perspective is a smart move.
The bigger problem i see from all these large organizations is that eventually they will operate/own our MLS systems, and we will have lost all control and influence over our industry.....
blogging will be the least of our problems then....
I am passionate about being a better Realtor, and I know that AR is passionate about making it happen...I SAY "TRULIA" welcome to gold standard service...
"Stay tuned as there are great things to come." When will we know what great things are to come. I am cautiously optimistic.
Nikesh, Bob and Kerrie: Thank you for taking the time to monitor our concerns today. As you are well aware, communication is extremely important.
I just wish that I liked Trulia.
Change is constant in life.
I personally find that change is exciting.
We'll get a few new phone calls and Trulia will monetize the acquisition that will remove AR from the small town watering hole it once was.
But that doesn't take away the community, it doesn't cancel out the millions of relationships and friendships created here, and it certainly will never nullify the business created, the learning, and the blogging chops of thousands that continue to be developed here.
If anything, the "what's in it for me" get better for us from where I sit. Trulia has the resources to make this a far better, more robust platform. I hope they do.