WASHINGTON – CoStar Group, a leading provider of real estate information, analytics and online marketplaces, has entered into a US$450 million transaction to acquire STR, a leading provider for primary tools such as data benchmarking and market insights for the hospitality sector.
“STR brings an unrivalled reputation within the global hospitality industry for their data integrity, reliability and strict confidentiality, and we look forward to continuing to build on these core values in the next chapter of STR’s growth,” said Andrew C. Florance, founder and ceo of CoStar Group.
A private, family-owned company since its 1985 founding, what began as ‘Smith Travel Research’ by Randy and Carolyn Smith, with a focus on the hotel industry, is now a global company with 370 employees in 15 countries.
Today, the company leads in processing, analysing and reporting on data from 66,000 hotels representing 8.9 million rooms in 180 countries. These include major hotel chains and operators globally, with STR credited for delivering innovative solutions that have advanced various disciplines in the hospitality industry, and attracting investment capital to the sector.
“We are very excited to become part of CoStar,” said Amanda Hite, STR’s president and ceo. “CoStar brings leading technologies, as well as complementary data, analytics and sales capabilities that we believe will enable STR to accelerate growth and increase the value and insights we provide to our hospitality clients. This combination also represents an outstanding career opportunity for all of our employees around the world.”
The transaction is expected to firm up by end 2019, pending customary closing conditions.