CoStar Group the leading provider of commercial real estate information, analytics and online marketplaces, announced today that it plans to acquire STR for $450m in cash, subject to adjustments in the definitive agreements. STR was founded in 1985 as Smith Travel Research to provide performance benchmarking and comparative analytics to hotels. Over the past 34 years, STR has grown its data assets, product offerings and geographic reach to become the gold standard in the global hospitality industry for premium data analytics, performance benchmarking and market insights. “The STR team has built an extraordinary company that partners with the hotel industry to create benchmarks and analytics that are the primary tools hotel management and investors rely on to optimize and improve their assets. STR brings an unrivaled reputation within the global hospitality industry for their data integrity, reliability and strict confidentiality, and we look forward to continuing to build on these core values in the next chapter of STR’s growth.” Andrew C. Florance, CoStar Group Founder and Chief Executive Officer.