D-day for Aussies in £7bn fight over Rightmove

  • Rea Group is 61% owned by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp
  • Analysts believe it must offer at least £7bn to stand any chance of success
  • Company had three proposals rejected and made fourth offer worth £6.2bn 

An Australian company backed by Rupert Murdoch has until 5pm today to table a full-blown takeover bid for Rightmove or walk away.

Analysts believe Rea Group, which is 61 per cent owned by Murdoch’s News Corp, must offer at least £7billion to stand any chance of success.

The company has had three proposals rejected and made a fourth offer worth £6.2billion on Friday, which is being looked at by Rightmove.

Rea bosses have flown to London to appeal to Rightmove shareholders in the hope of persuading the board to come to the table for talks.

They have also asked Rightmove to extend today’s 5pm deadline and enter discussions – something the British company has so far refused to do. 

Decision time: Rea bosses have flown to London to appeal to Rightmove shareholders in the hope of persuading the board to come to the table for talks

Rightmove said it would consider the proposal over the weekend, having rejected bids of £5.6billion, £5.9billion and £6.1billion.

It did not grant Rea’s request to extend the bid deadline beyond 5pm today. But there was speculation last night

that Rea might still secure such an extension.

Rightmove has a near monopoly in the UK property listings sector, attracting 80 per cent of searches. Its shares rose 0.5 per cent, or 3.6p, to 668.6p on Friday, still far below the 781p offer price.

This suggested investors did not believe the weekend’s talks would yield a result. Rea last week expressed disappointment that Rightmove’s board, led by chairman Andrew Fisher, had not yet engaged in takeover talks. 

The Melbourne-based group’s chief executive Owen Wilson flew to London a few days ago in the hope of meeting Rightmove directors. But last night there was little sign that the two parties had met up.

Wilson joined Rea chairman Hamish McLennan, who jetted in earlier to meet Rightmove shareholders. They had both hoped to encourage pressure on the firm’s board to engage.

‘Rea has repeatedly requested meetings with Rightmove but no meetings have taken place and as such there has been no substantive engagement beyond cursory procedural telephone calls with the Rightmove chairman,’ a Rea spokesman said on Friday.

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