Today’s the big day for Zillow and Trulia, as they complete their big merger. John Cook over at GeekWire has a good write-up: Here is Zillow’s big concern as it prepares to gobble up rival Trulia
One of the biggest concerns facing Zillow is whether it can properly integrate its long-time rival.
Trulia is a large and complex publicly-traded company, with more than 1,100 employees, 125 multiple listing services partners and monthly visitors that top 55 million.
Competently digesting San Francisco-based Trulia — which will operate as an independent brand — will not be an easy task. The integration may take longer that anticipated, and some key Trulia staffers may leave during the process. The deal also may serve as a distraction to Zillow’s historic growth.
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Acquisitions of this size have been known to derail the acquiring company, disrupting the culture and sending the merged entity into a tailspin. (Remember the outcome of AOL-Time Warner).In other words, they are a big risk.
I don’t really have anything more to say on the matter than what I said when the merger was initially announced in July. Combining two money-losing, “high growth” real estate advertising platforms chock-full of lousy data under the leadership of a CEO with a publicly-stated interest in bad data is noteworthy because of the large sums of money involved, but it will matter very little to you, the real estate consumer lead.
All leads — whether on contingent, active, or expired — can be worked. #ZillowSummit
— Spencer Rascoff (@spencerrascoff) July 29, 2013