(Bloomberg) -- Funds managed by Stone Point Capital and Insight Partners have agreed to buy the real estate data firm CoreLogic Inc. in a deal with an equity value of about $6 billion.
Stone Point and Insight are acquiring the company at $80 a share, a 51% premium to CoreLogic's unaffected share price on June 25, according to a statement Thursday.
The auction had come down to a group led by Warburg Pincus and CoStar Group Inc., according to a person familiar with the matter, who asked to not be identified because it isn't public.
The Warburg Pincus group had submitted a cash bid at $74 a share, one of the people said. Stone Point Capital was part of the original Warburg Pincus group and continued negotiations after Warburg Pincus left the group, the people said.
Earlier this week, CoStar had offered to bid 0.0933 per CoreLogic share, they added. This was worth $86 a share based on CoStar's close on Wednesday, according to Bloomberg calculations.
CoStar's bid didn't include a stock collar, which would protect the deal value against stock swings, the people said. The company is still interested in acquiring CoreLogic, they added.
CoreLogic' board determined the private equity cash bid with certainty of closure was the best path forward, the person said.
CoreLogic shares were trading up 1.8% at $82.26 at 2:19 p.m. in New York on Thursday.
Representative for Warburg Pincus, CoreLogic and CoStar declined to comment. A representative for Stone Point didn't respond to requests for comment.
U.S. Housing Boom
The deal announcement comes as the U.S. housing market booms, fueled by historically low mortgage rates. The buying and refinance frenzy has ignited interest in real estate technology. CoreLogic's data made the company an appealing target.
“CoreLogic is a mission critical vendor and data provider across industry sectors in which Stone Point has specialized over the past 20 years, including mortgage, residential real estate and P&C insurance,” Chuck Davis, chief executive officer of Stone Point Capital, said in the statement. “CoreLogic's proprietary data assets are increasingly important to its customers, and we look forward to leveraging our network within the broader financial services industry to support the company's next phase of growth.”
Irvine, California-based CoreLogic launched a strategic review in November amid a boardroom battle with investors Cannae Holdings Inc. and Senator Investment Group. The duo subsequently won three seats on CoreLogic's board.
The investors had offered to buy the company in June but pulled out of the sales process after CoreLogic said it had received indications of interest at $80 or above. The duo, which said they weren't interested in acquiring CoreLogic at that price, had offered $66 a share to buy the company.
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