Costar wants Online Transactions

#Costar Group announce that it intends to acquire Ten-X for $190 million in cash. Congratulations to the Ten-X people; that's a jaw dropping amount for the online auction and transaction company. The important takeaway, though, is Costar's interest in expanding its own capabilities beyond is core competency as an on line property listing company to an end-to-end provider of transaction services an encroaching on the brokers' realm -- some of whom have taken to calling it #DarkStar.