LoopNet

LoopNet is an online marketplace for commercial property for sale and for lease in the United States and Canada. It is owned by CoStar Group, a major data provider for the commercial real estate industry.

LoopNet, Inc.
Type of site
Subsidiary of CoStar Group
Founded1995 (1995)
Headquarters
Washington, D.C.
IndustryCommercial property
URLwww.loopnet.com
Alexa rank10,698 (As of 25 May 2020)[1]

As of May 2020, LoopNet had more than 6.7 million unique monthly visitors and more than 18 million properties were toured.

History

LoopNet was founded in 1995 by Dennis DeAndre. Working alongside engineer Steve Midgley, the two built LoopNet into the internet's largest commercial real estate listing service. LoopNet underwent three rounds of private venture capital financing in 1997 (Indo Suez), 1998 (Trinity Capital & Partners)[2] and $20 million in 1999 from 4 real estate brokers.[3]

In 2001, the company merged with PropertyFirst.com.[4]

In June 2006, the company became a public company via an initial public offering.[5] At that time, the company had 360,000 commercial properties for sale or lease.[6]

LoopNet acquired BizBuySell (2004), CityFeet (2007),[7] REApps (2008),[8] Land & Farm/Lands of America (2008) and Bizquest (2010).[9]

In April 2012, CoStar Group acquired LoopNet for approximately $860 million in cash and stock.[10]

In 2014, the company settled a trademark infringement lawsuit that it brought against Dotloop.[11]

In CoStar Group, Inc. v. LoopNet, Inc. (2006), in which Loopnet prevailed, it was determined that Loopnet, as an operator of a website, was no different from Netcom, then an internet service provider, and was not responsible for copyright infringements by its users. This ruling established precedent for copyright liability protection for many websites. It followed the CoS v Netcom case (better known as Scientology vs. the Internet). LoopNet demonstrated that it policed any user violations after the fact. The court did not require the company to stop future violations before they occur. Such a ruling could have effectively shut down LoopNet's website as well as those of many application service providers. CoStar unsuccessfully argued that LoopNet was an active party to the violations and thereby guilty of copyright infringement.

References
  1. "Alexa Internet: Loopnet.com". Alexa Internet.
  2. "Startup muse". Forbes. 17 August 1999.
  3. Robson, Douglas; Feuerstein, Adam (12 December 1999). "Real estate giants bankroll LoopNet". American City Business Journals.
  4. Reagin, Misty (18 July 2001). "LoopNet and PropertyFirst.com complete merger". National Real Estate Investor.
  5. "LoopNet, Inc. Prices Initial Public Offering" (Press release). Business Wire. 7 June 2006.
  6. Gelsi, Steve (5 June 2006). "LoopNet undaunted, looking to IPO". MarketWatch.
  7. "LoopNet Acquires Cityfeet.com, the Largest Distribution Network for Commercial Property Listings" (Press release). Business Wire. 2 August 2007.
  8. "LoopNet Acquires REApplications, the Leading Provider of On-Demand Brokerage Operations Software" (Press release). Business Wire. 8 April 2008.
  9. "LoopNet offers commercial real estate data, comps". Bradley Inman. 25 March 2011.
  10. Sernovitz, Daniel J. (30 April 2012). "CoStar Group completes LoopNet deal". American City Business Journals.
  11. Brownfield, Andy (22 July 2014). "Dotloop settles trademark lawsuit". American City Business Journals.
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