Real estate information and analytics provider CoreLogic has acquired Canadian-based Tarasoft Corp., the developer of the popular Matrix multiple listing service platform used by 17 MLSs in North America.
CoreLogic said it will add Matrix to its lineup of MLS platforms — Tempo, MLXchange and InnoVia — and make Matrix compatible with CoreLogic products including its Document and Transaction Manager and public record database, Realist.
Although CoreLogic did not disclose the acquisition price, it said it owns 100 percent of Tarasoft as of today, and will integrate the company into its MarketLinx division.
Tarasoft’s principals, Brian de Schepper and Seain Conover, "have indicated they want to be part of the team on a go-forward basis," said Ben Graboske, CEO of CoreLogic MarketLinx.
"We are super excited to say the entire Tarasoft teams as of today are CoreLogic employees," Graboske said. "This is a growth play for us, not a ‘Reduce redundancies and overlapping costs’ play. Tarasoft has done a great job growing, and we want them to continue to grow."
Based in Santa Ana, Calif., CoreLogic MarketLinx says the 130 MLS it served before the Tarasoft acquisition represented about half of Realtors in North America. Graboske said Tarasoft and CoreLogic MarketLinx clients can expect "business as usual, with more choices."
"For us, it’s about that total real estate audience, maximizing the size, and delivering as much value as possible," CoreLogic said. "The core enabler is the MLS platform in the middle."
Adding the Matrix platform to its offerings will also help CoreLogic Marketlinx grow its footprint outside of the U.S. and Canada, Graboske said. Matrix is already available as a bilingual platform in Montreal, he noted, with users able to select French or English.
The Matrix platform "could easily be expanded into Spanish, Portuguese, or any other country that has an other-than-English need," Graboske said.
Tarasoft has "amassed a pretty impressive client list, and done great job growing their population of end users through the years and through the downturn," Graboske said. "I think that’s a testament to their product and people."
Last month, Tarasoft announced a multiyear agreement with St. Louis-based Mid America Regional Multiple Listing Service (MARIS), which has 9,000 members, and renewal agreements with the Greater Montreal Real Estate Board (12,000 members) and the Regional Multiple Listing Service of Minnesota (NorthstarMLS, which has 16,000 members).
Matrix is also one of three MLS platforms that will be available to members of California’s growing statewide MLS, California Regional MLS (CRMLS).
In June, nine Realtor associations in Northern and central California that belong to CRMLS switched over from a platform provided by Discover Software Inc. to the Tarasoft Matrix platform. Another CRMLS member, Van Nuys-based Southland Regional Association of Realtors, switched their 10,000 subscribers over to Matrix in January.
Other major MLSs using Matrix include Kirkland, Wash.-based Northwest Multiple Listing Service (NWMLS); MLSListings Inc., the largest MLS in the San Francisco, San Jose and Monterey, markets in California; and Leawood, Kan.-based Heartland Multiple Listing Service.
Before acquiring Tarasoft, CoreLogic said it served eight MLSs with more than 20,000 members each: Atlanta-based FMLS; the Houston Association of Realtors; Dallas-based NTREIS; San Diego-based Sandicor; SoCalMLS, Southeast Florida MLS, My Florida Regional MLS, and REB-4, which service British Columbia and Alberta, Canada.