Australia’s REA sweetens takeover offer for Britain’s Rightmove to $8.1 bln

By Scott Murdoch and Himanshi AkhandSeptember 23, 202412:19 AM PDTUpdated 37 min ago

Rightmove logo is seen displayed in this illustration taken April 10 2023. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights,
Latest offer values Rightmove at 770 pence per share
Rightmove had rejected two earlier offers from REA
REA says remains ready to engage with Rightmove board
REA shares end down 2.5%, Rightmove rises 4%

Sept 23 (Reuters) – Australian property listing firm REA Group (REA.AX), opens new tab made a third pitch to buy British rival Rightmove (RMV.L), opens new tab with a new 6.1 billion pound ($8.12 billion) offer on Monday after its two previous offers were rejected.

The latest offer consists of 341 pence in cash and 0.0422 new REA shares, giving Rightmove an implied value of 770 pence per share.
Shares of REA, which is 62% owned by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp (NWSA.O), opens new tab, closed down 2.5% on Monday.

Shares in Rightmove gained 4% in early trading after the stock market opened in London.
Rightmove did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the new non-binding bid.
The REA offer put forward on Monday is higher than the initial offer of 705 pence per share, or 5.6 billion pounds, and the second proposal of 749 pence per share. Rightmove had rejected both the offers, saying they undervalued the company.

REA said it had not had any “substantive engagement” with Rightmove, except for the rejections, and that it remained ready to engage immediately with the Rightmove board.
“We are genuinely disappointed at the lack of engagement by Rightmove’s board and we strongly encourage the Rightmove board to engage,” REA CEO Owen Wilson said in a statement.
Britain’s housing market is triple the size of Australia’s, according to analysts, and a deal would allow REA to expedite its international growth plans.

Wall Street mixed, Dow hits another high

“The increased offer is clearly aimed at bringing the Rightmove board to the negotiating table,” said S&P analyst Entcho Raykovski, noting News Corp’s REA ownership would be reduced to about 49% if a deal progresses.
“…we note that REA has not declared the offer best and final, so there is scope for further increases.”
The Australian company reiterated that it would look to apply for a secondary listing in London to give it access to a wider pool of investors.

($1 = 0.7510 pounds)
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Reporting by Scott Murdoch in Sydney and Himanshi Akhand in Bengaluru, additional reporting by Iain Withers in London; Editing by Jamie Freed, Subhranshu Sahu and Muralikumar Anantharaman

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab

Scott Murdoch
Thomson Reuters

Scott Murdoch has been a journalist for more than two decades working for Thomson Reuters and News Corp in Australia. He has specialised in financial journalism for most of his career and covers equity and debt capital markets across Asia and Australian M&A. He is based in Sydney.

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Australia’s REA sweetens takeover offer for Britain’s Rightmove to $8.1 bln

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