MDA bids Searchflow

Conveyancing Month!

CONTENTS

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The UK’s first monthly on-line journal dedicated to conveyancers!

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Explanatory note

Explanatory note

Explanatory note

Explanatory note

Text Box: MDA bids for SearchFlow MacDonald Dettwiler & Associates (MDA), the provider of the NLIS hub infrastructure and owner of the Transaction Online (TOL) NLIS search channel, has agreed to acquire PropertyFlow, the owner of the rival NLIS channel, SearchFlow . The deal is subject to regulatory control, and The Office of Fair Trading is scheduled to make a preliminary ruling this month. If approved, the deal, will give MDA a total market share of more than 70% of NLIS search traffic. If, as expected, the OFT gives the deal the go-ahead, it will give MDA an even tighter grip on the UK e-conveyancing and HIPs infrastructure, coming as it does in the wake of MDA’s tie up with the Law Society, and other putative HIPs providers besides. The proposed acquisition reflects the market activity surrounding the larger property portals, as the “big guns” attempt to position themselves to take advantage of the perceived commercial opportunities presented by the new HIPs regime.