RentPath, CoStar Battle Over $58 Million After FTC Thwarts Deal

RentPath Holdings Inc. and rival CoStar Group Inc. are fighting over payment of a $58 million breakup fee following the Federal Trade Commission’s lawsuit to block CoStar’s acquisition of its bankrupt competitor.

What had been a largely consensual bankruptcy case took a turn after the cornerstone of RentPath’s reorganization—CoStar’s $587 million acquisition—was thwarted by the FTC, RentPath’s lawyer, Ray Schrock of Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP, said Thursday at a hearing in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware.

The commission argued that the acquisition would significantly increase concentration in the markets for internet listing services advertising for ...