Rightmove moves away from Murdoch takeover

Online property company REA Group, 62 per cent owned by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp, has withdrawn its offer for Rightmove.

REA abandoned its attempt to create “a global and diversified digital property company” based in Australia and Britain after its UK counterpart turned down a fourth offer of £6.2 billion (€7.4 billion) made on September 27.

If REA wished to make a fifth bid, then it needed to make a “best and final proposal” before the 5pm deadline that same day, Rightmove had said

Andrew Fisher, Rightmove’s chairman, said the company was confident that it would achieve “significant future value” for shareholders.

“Rightmove is an amazing business with a very strong team and a clear strategy,” he said.

He added that the Rightmove board was grateful to all of its shareholders who had been involved in the process and had shared their views.

REA’s chief executive Owen Wilson said afterwards that they 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,” Owen maintained.

Murdoch’s son Lachlan took control of REA by buying a 44 per cent holding in the company, then described as “struggling”, for A$2 million (€1.56 million) in 2001. After the Fox film studios and cable assets were sold to Disney for $71 billion (€64.2 billion) and Lachlan emerged as his father’s probable business heir in 2019, REA is viewed as one of his principal contributions to the family fortunes.

REA’s net profits grew by 24 per cent over its last financial year, thanks to price increases that have made it more expensive to sell a house online in Australia than in any other country in the world.