US: San Francisco-based coliving company Starcity has agreed to acquire Ollie, a New York-based competitor.
The purchase price was not disclosed but it will be an all-stock transaction. Ollie has 12 properties in operation and development, and with the acquisition Starcity will operate more than 1,500 units around the world, with 3,000 units in development and in the pipeline.
Ollie properties will be rebranded. Most of its staff and its property management software will be integrated into Starcity.
Starcity CEO Jon Dishotsky said he met Ollie co-founder Chris Bledsoe at a panel discussion several years ago and the two became fans of each other’s businesses.
“We’d made some inroads on the East Coast and this really was a chance for us to accelerate that growth,” Dishotsky said. “Over time the properties will transition to the Starcity brand and we’re spending the next couple of months doing the conversion, working with all of our partners to make sure that that happens. It’s not like a rip the Band-Aid kind of thing, we want to make sure it’s done thoughtfully and that the resident experience doesn’t change and is only improved.”
