Catalano's ACM forms JV with realestateview.com.au and ditches Domain

Mariam Cheik-Hussein
By Mariam Cheik-Hussein | 1 October 2020
 
Ballarat Courier

Australia Community Media (ACM) and realestateview.com.au are forming a joint venture, which will see Domain replaced as the property section across the regional publishing group's titles.

The business will have ACM as the majority shareholder, with the two companies collectively investing more than $100 million over five years.

The joint venture will build a multi-faceted property media, agency services and data business, with realestateview.com.au to be the lead consumer-facing brand of the joint venture.

From today ACM will roll out the realestateview.com.au brand to about 130 print and digital assets that feature property sections, replacing the Domain brand which is 59% owned by Nine Entertainment. 

Nine sold the Australian Community Media and printing business (ACM) to Antony Catalano, the former head of Domain, and the Thorney Investment Group for $115 million in April 2019.

Catalano, now ACM executive chairman, says the “aggressive” push into the property space provides the business with a broader and more sustainable revenue base as advertising revenue for print declines.

“The move is a key strategic piece of our real estate digital media plan,” says Catalano.

“With majority ownership in the JV we can now look to fast-track the realestateview.com.au business by enabling it through all parts of the ACM business including editorial, marketing and of course a combined national sales force that will sell our integrated property marketing solution.

“We’ve proven through our regional pilots that by combining ACM’s publishing assets with the Today Acquire digital marketing tool and a listing on realestateview.com.au, we are able to reach buyers more effectively at all stages along the path to purchase and then nurture those leads through to agents and vendors.

“When Alex Waislitz and I bought ACM, we came with a commitment to invest and grow. COVID hasn’t made things easy but we’ve worked hard with the executive team and we’re now seeing the plan come together as we look to evolve into a digitally led media business with many strings to our bow.”

Realestateview.com.au has been going through a period of significant change for the past two years under its new CEO Toby Balazs.

He has led a successful capital raise, migrated  to a new technology platform, and secured a content deal with Core Logic to power its Price Estimator tool. The company says this has helped drive audience growth of more than 40% year-on-year pre-COVID-19.

“This is the shot in the arm we’ve been planning for and I couldn’t be happier to see it come to fruition,” Balazs says.

“To have the strength of the ACM business now behind us and to have our brand featured strong and bold across the country we now have the platform to grow the business, build audiences and most importantly deliver results for our agent partners and vendors alike.

“With a 20-year history and industry support, we are the trusted source for property, and we look forward to sharing this with the rest of the country.”

ACM CMO Paul Tyrrell now operates as chief marketing officer for both businesses.

“We know from experience that combining publishing assets with a real estate portal provides a platform for significant growth in audiences and importantly, more sales leads for our real estate partners,” Tyrrell says.

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