Catalano's VMG Ramping Up Australian Challenge with Joust Partnership and Further Acquisitions

View Media Group (VMG), the Australian media and portal operator co-founded by former Domain CEO Antony Catalano, has announced a pilot partnership with home loan marketplace Joust.

The partnership will Joust's services linked to from the listings pages of VNG's flagship portal Realestateview.com.au.

The partnership was described in comments from Joust CEO Carl Hammerschmidt as “a great opportunity to leverage the platform’s high volume of active property seekers with Joust’s deep customer data to provide the best outcome for the consumer”.

The move comes as VMG's rival and market leader REA Group continues to integrate its mortgage brokerage operations under the Mortgage Choice brand for which it paid A$244m in 2021.

VMG active in M&A market

VMG also announced the acquisition of the off-plan property portal platform AD Group earlier this month. AD Group was founded by Jordy Catalano (son of VMG Chairman Antony) and Tom Hywood in 2014 and provides an inventory management platform for developers as well as the new build portal a-d.com.au.

“While VMG is much more than a portal business, AD Group, along with realestateview.com.au, will be the consumer face of our group and this transaction will allow us to invest in these valuable brands, drive audiences via our partners in Seven West Media and ACM and deliver on our vision of seamlessly connecting vendors with buyers,” said Antony Catalano.

The purchase of AD Group follows the acquisition by VMG of property marketing and technology company The Today Business for an undisclosed sum in October.