Rupert Murdoch at his annual party at Spencer House, St James’ Place in London. Picture date: Thursday June 22, 2023.
Victoria Jones | Pa Images | Getty Images
LONDON — Rupert Murdoch’s Australian property firm REA Group said Monday it would no longer seek to buy the U.K.’s Rightmove after the property portal rejected a fourth takeover proposal.
REA said it maintains a “disciplined approach” to mergers and acquisitions and that it’s bid for Rightmove was dependent on coming to an agreement at a “fair price.”
“We were disappointed with the limited engagement from Rightmove that impeded our ability to make a firm offer within the timetable available. They had nothing to lose by engaging with us,” said REA’s CEO Owen Wilson.
Rightmove, meanwhile, said Monday in a separate statement that its board unanimously rejected REA Group’s fourth offer proposal on the grounds that it “materially undervalued Rightmove and its future prospects.” It added that shareholder interests would be better served through the execution of Rightmove’s standalone strategic plan.
The offer, made on Friday, for 346 pence in cash and 0.0417 new REA shares, implied an additional 10 pence in value or 1.3%, when compared to the previous third proposal, according to Rightmove.
Shares of Rightmove traded 8.3% lower at 613p as of 3:15 p.m. London time. REA Group’s latest offer implied a total offer value of 780p, based on the closing price of REA Group on Sept. 30, according to Rightmove.
The Australian property listings company, which is controlled by Murdoch’s News Corp, first announced it was contemplating a takeover of Rightmove at the start of September. It’s final bid of around £6 billion ($8.1 billion), according to Reuters, came after an initial offer of £5.6 billion.
Before Melbourne-headquartered REA Group confirmed it was abandoning its proposals for Rightmove, the U.K. firm had urged REA to submit a final proposal to bring an end to the uncertainty from the bidding process.
“The last few weeks have been very disruptive, as well as unsettling for our colleagues,” said Rightmove’s Chair Andrew Fisher.
REA Group, in which News Corp owns a more than 61% interest, operates a number of property websites in Australia, as well as several brands in India and the U.S. The company’s previous venture into the U.K. faced stiff market pressure. The company sold its real estate site PropertyFinder Group to Rightmove rival Zoopla in 2009, during the Global Financial Crisis.
— CNBC’s Karen Gilchrest contributed to this story.