Realogy to close acquisition of ZipRealty today

Realogy Holdings Corp. says it owns 80.2 percent of the outstanding shares of ZipRealty and will be able to purchase additional shares from the company to close its acquisition of ZipRealty today without seeking approval from shareholders.

The real estate franchise and brokerage giant said its tender offer to purchase all outstanding shares of ZipRealty expired Wednesday night, with 17.6 million shares validly tendered.

Realogy then exercised a “top-up” option in its merger agreement to purchase additional shares from ZipRealty. When the acquisition is completed today, the Emeryville, California-based real estate brokerage and tech provider will become an indirect, wholly owned subsidiary of Realogy.

In reporting a $1.9 million net loss for the quarter ending June 30, ZipRealty disclosed the companies had agreed to settle a potential class-action lawsuit by ZipRealty shareholders, and that antitrust regulators would not stand in the way of the deal.

Realogy says it’s acquiring ZipRealty not only for its residential brokerage operations, but also for its “Powered by Zip” technology platform, which generates and manages leads.