Although we don't believe in timing the market or panicking over market movements, we do like to keep an eye on big changes -- just in case they're material to our investing thesis.
What: Shares of Trulia Inc (NYSE: TRLA) jumped as much as 9.5% early Tuesday, then settled to trade up around 4% as of 12:30 p.m. after Zillow (Z +0.91%) confirmed its acquisition of the company will close soon. Shares of Zillow also climbed as high as 9.2% this morning before settling up around 3.3%.
So what: Specifically, Zillow surprised the market on Friday evening ahead of the long weekend by announcing both its fourth-quarter results and that its acquisition of Trulia was set to close as early as today. Zillow says the latter announcement followed notice from the Federal Trade Commission that it has closed its investigation of the purchase. Previously, the most recent updated provided on the purchase was three months ago during Zillow's third-quarter conference call, when management said they had certified compliance with the FTC's second request for information. http://seekingalpha.com/article/2646795-zillows-z-ceo-spencer-rascoff-on-q3-2014-results-earnings-call-transcript
Now what: Zillow also stated that in lieu of its usual fourth-quarter call (and assuming the acquisition does close today), it would hold a conference call to discuss the deal tomorrow. We already know the combined company will maintain both the Zillow and Trulia brands, but investors will be listening closely for new operational and organizational details of how the brands will function following the merger in a complementary fashion. In any case, as the real estate market continues to shift toward an online model, Zillow and Trulia are effectively solidifying their positions as industry leaders by combining forces.
