REA Group makes third offer to buy Rightmove, worth £6.1bn

Introduction: Australia’s REA sweetens takeover offer for Rightmove to £6.1bn

Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of business, the financial markets and the world economy.

When bidding for property, it’s important not to take no for an answer. Australia’s REA Group is taking this advice seriously, and has just launched its third offer to buy UK housing portal Rightmove.

After being rebuffed twice this month, REA has upped its offer again. It is now proposing to pay around £6.1bn for the UK’s biggest online property portal.

REA’s offer is worth 770p per Rightmove share – structured as 341p in cash and 0.0422 new REA shares

In a statement to the Australia stock market this morning, Owen Wilson, CEO of REA, insisted the deal made sense, saying:

“We believe that the combination of our world-leading expertise and technology with the attractive Rightmove business will create an enhanced experience for agents, buyers and sellers of property.

We live in a world of intensifying competition and this proposed transaction would bring together two highly complementary digital property businesses for investment and growth.

Wilson added that REA is “genuinely disappointed at the lack of engagement by Rightmove’s Board”.

REA, which is majority owned by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp, made its first approach to Rightmove on 5 September, when it proposed paying 705p per share, or £5.6bn. That was rebuffed, with Rightmove’s board saying it “fundamentally” undervalued the company.

Then on Friday night, news broke that REA had increased its offer by £300m.

Rightmove weren’t commenting officially on that offer yesterday, but Bloomberg reported that “people familiar with the matter’” said it had been rejected.

Now, Rightmove’s board must ponder this third offer.

The company’s shares closed at 674p on Friday night (before news of the second offer broke), which values Rightmove at £5.32bn.

Also coming up today

Surveys of purchasing managers across the UK, Eurozone and the US will show how major economies are faring this month.

And in Liverpool, chancellor Rachel Reeves is expected to promise “a Budget to rebuild Britain” in her speech to the Labour Party conference today.

The agenda

9am BST: Purchasing managers index (flash reading) for the eurozone in September
9.30am BST: Purchasing managers index (flash reading) for the UK in September
11am BST: CBI industrial trends report on UK factories
2.45pm BST: Purchasing managers index (flash reading) for the US in September

Key events

Elsewhere this morning, smart sensing software company Oxford Metrics has told the City that customers are being more cautious.

Oxford Metrics told shareholders that it now expects adjusted pre-tax profts to be materially below current market expectations for the financial year.

It explained:

While the Group continues to have a healthy pipeline, the trend of more extended buying cycles has developed in the second half against a strong prior year comparative.

Globally, we are seeing customers across our markets exercising greater caution and purchasing decisions are taking longer to conclude. A number of opportunities in the pipeline have now shifted into the new financial year.

#RMV Things look to be hotting up in the potential takeover of Rightmove by REA

REA’s revised (& third offer) is equivalent to 770p

Made up of 341p + 0.0422 REA shares

Rejected by the Board & REA appealing to Rightmove shareholders to put pressure on Board to engage 👀 pic.twitter.com/tajD4nHVWs

— Aston Girl (@reb40) September 23, 2024

Shares in REA Group have dropped by 2.1% today on the Australian stock market, after it upped its offer for Rightmove again.

Having lifted their takeover offer again, Rea also disputes Rightmove’s claim that its approach is “wholly opportunistic”.

They told investors today:

Rightmove’s share price has lacked any sustained upward momentum for two years, with a last 24 months VWAP [volume-weighted average price]] of 540 pence, a last 12 months VWAP of 540 pence and an undisturbed share price on 30 August 2024 of 556 pence, despite being supported by its ongoing share buyback programme and revised strategy announced at last year’s Capital Markets Day.

This chart shows Rightmove’s shares jumped at the start of this month, when REA’s original approach was announced:

Rightmove’s share price over the last two years Photograph: LSEG

Third time lucky? The Rea group go back with an increased offer of £6.1bn for Rightmove in the hope their board will engage. The property portal will be aware there is more in the tank, the Rea Group just hope this is enough to make them ‘get out of bed.’ https://t.co/UFAW7iaeaZ

— Emma Fildes (@emmafildes) September 23, 2024