MADISON, NJ—Reology Holdings Corp. is buying competitor ZipRealty for $166 million in a $6.75-per-share all-cash deal that managment expects to close in the third quarter. Locally based Reology's acquisition of ZipRealty, which is based in Emeryville, CA, outside of San Francisco, will give the former 23 offices across the country that specialize in a real estate-technology platform for residential brokers.

The deal, which has been approved by ZipRealty's board of directors, is attractive to Reology both for beefing up its residential-brokerage capabilities, and also ZipRealty's platform, which technologically "provides a seamless digital experience for consumers, brokers and sales associates across the entire real estate transaction life cycle," says Richard Smith, Realogy's chairman, chief executive officer and president.

ZipRealty, with about 1,800 sales associates, was responsible for nearl $2.7 billion in commercial real estate deals over its last fiscal year, which ended Dec. 31. The firm itself had a $5.4-million loss over those 12 months but posted $76 million in revenue and $32 million in gross profit during the period.