Askume, Sept 23 – Australian real estate listed company REA Group (REA.AX) said on Monday it has acquired Rightmove.The company raised its (RMV.L) price tag to 6.1 billion pounds ($8.12 billion) after Britain’s biggest property portal rejected two previous offers.
The latest offer represents a price of 770p per Rightmove share, comprising 341p in cash and 0.0422 new REA shares.
This is up from an initial offer of 705p per share, or £5.6 billion, and a second offer of 749p per share. Rightmove rejected both offers, saying they undervalued the company.
“This (new offer) provides Rightmove shareholders with immediate cash price certainty and incremental opportunities in key digital assets and surrounding sectors,” REA Chief Executive Owen Wilson said in a statement.
Analysts said the deal would help REA accelerate its growth in attractive international markets, with the UK property market being three times larger than the Australian market.
REA, which is majority owned by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp (NWSA.O) , went beyond the disclaimer to say it had “no significant contact” with Rightmove and was prepared to liaise with the Rightmove board immediately.
The Australian company reiterated that it would consider applying for a secondary listing in London to attract a wider investor base.
Rightmove did not immediately respond to a request for comment outside normal UK business hours.
($1 = 0.7510 British pounds)
