Online real estate The dot-com downturn may have sent Hawaii's fledgling high-tech industry tumbling. But one local Internet company is bucking the trend.
firm in Hawaii
to be acquired
A California-based company's
purchase of ISDI.net is expected
to close in JanuaryBy Rick Daysog
rdaysog@starbulletin.comISDI.net, an online real estate information services provider, said it is being acquired by California-based Fidelity National Information Solutions Inc., giving the local company the backing of a major provider of real estate data.
In the deal, which is expected to close in January, Fidelity National will get ISDI.net's cutting-edge real estate technology, including its Web site Value YourHome.com and its various Internet-based desktop tools for the real estate profession.
ValueYourHome.com, which relies on a database of more than 40 million property records, allows a person access to up to 10 years of real estate records in 42 states.
Fidelity National also will retain the local company's expertise in real estate information services. ISDI.net co-founder Jack Willey will become Fidelity National's chief technology officer while his partner, local real estate economist Michael Sklarz, will become the company's director of research.
Fidelity National is expected to keep all 20 of ISDI.net's local employees.
The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
According to Willey, ISDI.net will be become part of Fidelity National's real estate professional services division but will continue to operate in Hawaii.
Fidelity National said it expects to invest a substantial amount to expand the local company.
Based in Santa Barbara, Calif., Fidelity National is one of the nation's leading providers of real estate-related information services and technology. The 700-employee company lists assets of about $66 million and its various real estate products are used by more than 350,000 real estate professionals nationwide.
ISDI.net is a 2-year-old partnership which includes Sklarz, Willey's ISDI Technologies and Prudential California, a 2,800-agent Southern California real estate firm. ISDI Technologies is not a part of this transaction and will continue to run independently.
The deal comes as many of Hawaii's homegrown high-tech firms have been floundering.
Companies like WorldPoint Inc. and the Ohana Foundation have announced that they are closing while others like Adtech Inc. have laid off many of their Hawaii workers.