RIGHTMOVE has “unanimously rejected” a fourth offer from Australia’s Rea Group, less than a week after the UK’s largest online property portal rejected a third bid from the digital property group controlled by News Corp.
Rea has increased its cash and shares proposal to value the London-listed company at about £6.2 billion, or 781p per share. At the beginning of September, Rea proposed a bid of 705p per share, valuing Rightmove at £5.6bn, followed by subsequent bids of £5.9bn and £6.1bn.
'Rightmove is an exceptional company with a clear strategy'
Andrew Fisher, Rightmove’s chair, said in a statement issued this morning: “The board of Rightmove has fully reviewed the latest proposal with its financial and legal advisers. The board has taken into consideration the views of its shareholders and also considered the representations from the chair and management team of Rea.”
He said that board has concluded that the latest proposal “remains unattractive and continues to materially undervalue Rightmove and its future prospects”, adding: “The board cannot recommend the latest proposal to Rightmove shareholders. Accordingly, the board has unanimously rejected the latest proposal”.
The Australian property giant, which says it operates Australia’s “leading residential and commercial property websites – realestate.com.au and realcommercial.com.au – reiterated its “disappointment and surprise at the repeated rejections of its prior proposals by the board of directors of Rightmove”.
Will Australian group get Rightmove at third time of asking?
It said it was in the interests of Rightmove’s shareholders “to engage in constructive discussions with Rea to work towards a recommended transaction”.
REA added there had been no “substantive engagement” from Rightmove beyond “cursory procedural telephone calls” with Rightmove’s chair Andrew Fisher.
Owen Wilson, chief executive of Rea, said: “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.”
Rightmove knocks back third takeover offer from down under
Rea has until 5pm today to make a firm offer or walk away.
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