Seven & Anthony Catalano Join Forces On Real Estate Venture

Real estate wizard Antony Catalano (lead image) has announced the launch of View Media Group (VMG) along with co-owner Alex Waislitz.

VMG is a real estate digital media and agent services business comprising a suite of proptech platforms offering consumer and business solutions in Australia’s $300 billion real estate transactional market. Seven West Media has also confirmed an investment of cash and media services in VMG.

Catalano said: “VMG will form a global-first conglomerate of proptech assets including portals, ad tech, lead generation, lead management solutions, media planning and buying, AI services, data and connections all under the one roof.

“We are bringing together a group of businesses and experts in the industry to form a true disruptor in the rapidly evolving proptech sector.”

VMG will initially include a 72 per cent stake in search portal realestateview.com.au (REV), with minority investments in market-leading AI and data business Propic and the utilities comparison and connection business Beevo.

Further investments and acquisitions are expected to be announced by the group in the coming weeks. “Watch this space,” Catalano continued.

“We have a series of exciting announcements we expect to be able to share with the industry over the coming weeks involving fast-growing tech start-ups.”

Previously registered as IMP, View Media Group is owned by 20 Cashews Pty Ltd, an entity which is jointly owned 50 per cent by Antony Catalano and 50 per cent by Alex Waislitz’s private Thorney Investment Group and the publicly-listed Thorney Opportunities Ltd.

Catalano and Waislitz have invested substantial capital into VMG and further, have committed significant media services through their ACM network of 140 mastheads across regional Australia.

Seven West Media will take equity in the company via its Seven West Ventures subsidiary. The combined investment from all parties will see the total cash and media spend available to VMG total well over $100 million.

Seven West Media managing director and CEO, James Warburton, said: “Through Seven West Ventures, we are constantly looking for businesses which we can help grow through the remarkable reach and power of our television, BVOD, digital and print assets.

“VMG is an exciting investment for us. The combination of Seven West Media, Antony’s experience and the team he has assembled is a recipe for success.” Catalano said:

“The investment and partnership with Seven West Media is a clear endorsement of the VMG opportunity and this will help fast track our growth and acquisition plans.

“Seven West Media is the undisputed leader in television and BVOD across every region of Australia. Add the dominance of West Australian Newspapers in WA and you have a business that reaches 91 per cent of all Australians every month. Together, Seven West Media and VMG are a powerful partnership.”

“The team we have put together at VMG represents decades of experience in the property industry. They are the best in their fields and are running very successful businesses in their own right. Our plan is to bring these businesses together to form a property ecosystem where each business will drive value to each other and offer customers an end-to-end experience,” he said. “We are deliberately taking a different VIEW of the market and we want the experience of buying property to be seamless at all steps along the buying journey. Be that browsing, searching, transacting, settling or moving in, our tools will help make this journey easier.”

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Anthony Catalano James Warburton Seven