It’s strike four, over and out, for Rupert Murdoch’s REA Group, as its continuing, months-long effort to acquire Rightmove has come to an end. Its fourth offer of $8.3B was rejected by the UK portal’s board of directors Sept. 30, and Murdoch’s Sydney-based News Corp subsidiary said there will not be another offer. News Corp also owns and operates several other real estate portals, including Realtor.com®.
Rightmove considers itself the UK’s No.1 property platform for the last 25 years.
The latest offer, $8.3 billion, follows closely on its third offer of $7.8 billion on Sept. 16.
In a statement commenting on Rightmove’s rejection of REA’s fourth proposal, Owen Wilson, CEO of REA, said that, “Against a backdrop of intensifying global competition, we approached Rightmove’s Board because we strongly believed in the opportunity to create a globally diversified leader in the digital property sector that would benefit both REA and Rightmove shareholders. 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.
“We are always financially disciplined when we look at M&A and reinvestment in our business and will continue to focus on the many other opportunities ahead of us. Our recent investment in Athena Home Loans is a great example of this. We have a clear strategy to expand in our core business and adjacent markets, and India represents an exceptional opportunity for growth. We look forward to pursuing these opportunities and generating further value for REA shareholders.”
Notably, CoStar Group, which has propelled its subsidiary Homes.com to become a top contender in the domestic “portal wars,” last year purchased another UK real estate portal, OnTheMarket. In the United States, Homes.com and Realtor.com have remained locked in a bitter battle over metrics and marketshare.
The Rightmove Board unanimously concluded that the latest REA proposal was unattractive and materially undervalued Rightmove. The Board concluded that shareholder interests would be better served through the execution of Rightmove’s standalone strategic plan.
Rightmove Chair Andrew Fisher commented that, “(w)e respect REA and the success they have achieved in their domestic market. However, we remain confident in the standalone future of Rightmove. Rightmove has been the leading operator in the UK for over 20 years, and it has differentiated market presence, branding and technology, and very significant opportunities for future growth.
“The last few weeks have been very disruptive, as well as unsettling for our colleagues. To the extent REA wants to put forward a further proposal, I urge them to submit a best and final proposal ahead of today’s 5 p.m. PUSU deadline such that we can bring certainty to this process.
“Our world-class team is executing against our strategic plan, and continuing to drive innovation and accelerate growth to deliver compelling shareholder value.”
The offer came and wasn’t enough, so game over.
