REA made a fourth offer for Rightmove and repeated its call for talks with the board
Unlock Editor’s Digest for free
Roula Khalaf, FT Editor, picks her favorite stories in this weekly newsletter.
Australian property listing group REA, majority-owned by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp, has made its fourth offer in a month for British rival Rightmove and reiterated its call for the company’s board to company participates in negotiations.
REA said that, based on its own latest share price, the cash and shares offering gave Rightmove shares an implied value of 781p, valuing the company at £6.2bn.
Rightmove, which this week dismissed the third offer as “unattractive”, pledged on Friday afternoon to review the latest approach.
“As it has done throughout this process, the board will review the latest proposal with its financial advisors,” it said.
Rightmove shares were down 1.1% on Friday afternoon in London, at 658p.
The latest offer takes advantage of a slight recovery in the REA share price, which has fallen since news of it broke. the first offer made public in early September.
Its shares fell from A$219 at the end of August to A$192 on Wednesday, before recovering to A$200 when markets closed in Australia on Friday.
REA’s previous offer, announced on Monday, valued Rightmove at 770p per share for a total of £6.1 billionthe company said.
The Australian corporation has been criticized many times Move rightboard for not participating in its recommendations.
Under UK takeover regulations, REA have until 5pm on September 30 to make any final offer or abandon their pursuit of Rightmove. REA on Friday asked Rightmove’s board to grant permission to extend the deadline and enter into negotiations with REA.
REA chief executive Owen Wilson said the company had met with Rightmove shareholders to discuss the offer. REA said it would maintain a secondary listing on the London Stock Exchange if successful.
“We continue to see the potential to strengthen Rightmove and accelerate its growth,” said Wilson. “This is an exciting opportunity to create a truly global technology company leading the London market through a secondary listing, operating in two of the most attractive markets in the world.”
The company also announced on Friday that it would allow Rightmove shareholders who want a higher proportion of REA shares in their cash and shares mix to exercise that option.
The latest offer includes 346p in cash, 0.0417 new REA shares and a special dividend of 6p per Rightmove share.
REA offered 341p in cash and 0.0422 new REA shares on Monday. It said its initial offer, made for Rightmove on September 5, valued each share at 705p and the company’s share capital at £5.6bn.
Wilson said: “We believe it is in the interests of Rightmove shareholders for the Rightmove board to work with us and extend the September 30, 2024 deadline.
REA said its offer on Friday represents a 41% premium to Rightmove’s 556p share price on August 30, before news of REA’s interest emerged.
