Billionaire Rupert Murdoch’s REA Group has made a fourth sweetened bid to buy Rightmove worth £6.2bn, and urged the board of the UK property portal to “engage now”.
Rightmove rejected a third offer from the Australian rival on Monday, valued at £6.1bn.
The move also comes after Rightmove shareholder AXA Investment Managers, which holds around 1% of the business, worth around £67m, this week said it was time for the UK board to hold “serious” talks with REA.
REA has until 30 September to make a formal offer for Rightmove or walk away, under UK takeover rules.
It says: “REA is ready to engage immediately and firmly believes that engagement is now essential in order to progress the proposal and an extension to the 30 September 2024 deadline should be granted by the board of directors of Rightmove to permit that engagement.”
Richmond-based REA, which is held by News Corp, has now offered the Rightmove board a bid worth 781p for the firm’s shares, valuing the business at £6.2bn.
REA says this is an 11% increase on its second bid for Rightmove on 5 September and a 41% premium on the UK firm’s undisturbed share price on 30 August, the day before the Australian firm’s interest became public.
Rightmove shareholders would hold around 20% of the enlarged business, REA said in a stock market statement.
REA chief executive Owen Wilson said: “While the Rightmove board has refused to meet with us, we have enjoyed the opportunity to connect with Rightmove shareholders and to share our vision for the combination of the number one digital property businesses in the UK and Australia.
“We continue to see the potential for us to strengthen Rightmove and accelerate its growth. This is a compelling opportunity to create a true global technology leader on the London market via a secondary listing, operating in two of the most attractive markets in the world.”
“We have further improved our offer, and today announce that we intend to include a mix and match facility for shareholders who wish to receive a greater proportion of their consideration in REA shares to do so.”
REA employs almost 3,000 staff trades across Australia, Asia and the US under several brands, including PropTrack, realator.com and PropTiger.com.
Shares in Rightmove fell 1.2% to 657p in late morning trading.
