REA shares fall on potential Rightmove bid
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More news: Shares in REA Group fell 5.47% to $207.03 a share at 10:55am AEST on Monday, after the company announced that it was considering making a bid for UK digital real estate platform Rightmove.
Over the past 12 months its share price has soared 27.43%.
REA Group weighs bid for UK’s Rightmove
The news: Australia’s largest digital real estate portal REA Group has announced that it is considering making an offer to acquire London-listed digital real estate platform, Rightmove.
The context: The News Corp-controlled real estate portal announced its consideration of the possible move in a statement to the ASX following a trading halt on Monday morning.
REA Group said any such offer would be made in cash and shares, however the company “has not approached, nor had any discussions with” Rightmove over any potential offer. The company said there’s no guarantee that an offer will be made but had to announce its potential offer due to UK takeover rules.
REA closed the 2024 fiscal year with a 23% revenue lift to $1.45 billion, the company reported earlier this month. EBITDA rose 27% to $825 million, while net profit after tax for core operations was $460.5 million, up 24% on the year prior. Net profit after tax from ordinary activities fell 15% to $293.3 million.
What they said: “The REA board believes that there are clear similarities between REA and Rightmove in terms of their leading market positions in the core residential business, continued expansion and innovation of offerings across adjacent segments, leading audience share and strong brand awareness, as well as highly aligned cultural values,” REA said in a statement on Monday.
“REA sees transformational opportunity to apply its globally leading capabilities and expertise to enhance customer and consumer value across the combined portfolio and to create a global and diversified digital property company, with number one positions in Australia and the UK.”
The source: ASX announcement
