Thomas H. Lee Partners Invests In Ten-X, Nation’s Leading Online Real Estate Marketplace
IRVINE, Calif. and BOSTON, Aug. 2, 2017 /PRNewswire/ — Ten-X, LLC, (the “Company” or “Ten-X”) the nation’s leading online real estate marketplace, and Thomas H. Lee Partners, L.P. (“THL”), a premier private equity firm investing in middle market growth companies, announced today that they have signed a definitive agreement under which affiliates of THL will lead a majority recapitalization of Ten-X. Members of Ten-X’s senior management team, Stone Point Capital, and CapitalG (formerly Google Capital), among others, which currently are investors in Ten-X, will continue to hold minority stakes in the Company. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2017, subject to customary closing conditions.
Founded in 2007 and headquartered in Irvine and Silicon Valley, California, Ten-X provides an online real-estate marketplace that allows individuals and investors to buy and sell residential and commercial real-estate properties using both desktop and mobile channels. By leveraging its market leading technology platform and extensive international network of buyers, Ten-X empowers consumers, investors and real estate professionals with unprecedented levels of flexibility, control and simplicity to easily complete real estate transactions entirely online. Since its inception in 2007, Ten-X has enabled over $50 billion of residential and commercial property sales on its platform.
THL will support Ten-X’s continued growth by contributing operational and financial resources and strategic expertise as the Company builds on its proven platform, pursues additional monetization opportunities, and executes on its growth objectives. The Company will retain its corporate headquarters in Irvine and Silicon Valley and will continue to be led by its Chief Executive Officer, Tim Morse, and the other members of its senior management team.
“After thoughtful consideration, we determined that THL is the right equity partner for Ten-X,” said Mr. Morse. “They have an exceptional history of investing in growth-oriented businesses, such as Ten-X, and we firmly believe that they will allow us to reach our full potential and help us build on our leading position in the online real estate market. I am also pleased that our management team and existing investors will retain an ownership position in the business as we continue to provide our customers with best-in-class solutions.”
“We are thrilled to partner with THL as we enter an exciting, new chapter in Ten-X’s history that is focused on expanding our reach and broadening our product and marketplace offerings,” said Ten-X’s Executive Chairman, Jeff Frieden. “We also believe that the THL team shares the same core values and commitment to excellence that have made Ten-X the established leader in the online marketplace segment, making them the ideal cultural fit.”
“Tim Morse and Ten-X’s experienced management team have created a transformational market leader in the real estate industry. The Company’s best-in-class online platform creates better outcomes for both buyers and sellers and we believe there are multiple levers for substantial growth as online penetration continues in the real estate market,” said Jim Carlisle, Managing Director at THL. “THL’s effort included leadership from across the Firm, including our Media, Information Services and Technology Group, our Business and Financial Services Group and our Strategic Resource Group. We all look forward to partnering with Jeff and Tim to further strengthen Ten-X’s unique online platform.”
J.P. Morgan Securities LLC and Wells Fargo Securities acted as financial advisors and Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP acted as legal advisor to Ten-X. Antares Capital and Guggenheim Securities will lead the debt financing. Guggenheim Securities also acted as a financial advisor and Kirkland & Ellis LLP acted as legal advisor to THL.
About Ten-X
Ten-X is the nation’s leading online real estate transaction marketplace and the parent to Ten-X Commercial, Auction.com, and Ten-X Homes. To date, the company has sold 300,000+ residential and commercial properties totaling over $50 billion. Leveraging desktop and mobile technology, Ten-X allows people to safely and easily complete real estate transactions online. Ten-X is headquartered in Irvine and Silicon Valley, Calif., and has offices in key markets nationwide. For more information, visit Ten-X.com.
About Thomas H. Lee Partners, L.P.
Thomas H. Lee Partners, L.P. (“THL”) is a premier private equity firm investing in middle market growth companies, headquartered in North America, exclusively in four industry sectors: Business & Financial Services, Consumer & Retail, Healthcare, and Media, Information Services & Technology. Using the firm’s deep domain expertise and the internal operating capabilities of its Strategic Resource Group, THL seeks to create deal sourcing advantages, and to accelerate growth and improve operations in its portfolio companies in partnership with management teams.
Since its founding in 1974, THL has raised over $22 billion of equity capital, acquired over 140 portfolio companies and completed over 360 add-on acquisitions which collectively represent a combined enterprise value at the time of acquisition of over $200 billion.