REA Group has increased its offer to nearly 750p per share for the UK property giant Rightmove

The Murdoch family’s Australian property company has raised its bid for Britain’s Rightmove in a deal valued at nearly £5.9 billion.

According to the Financial Times, REA Group has upped its offer to almost 750p per share, representing a 7% increase from its initial bid, which was rejected earlier this month.

This continued effort comes as News Corp, the parent company of REA, looks to expand its business beyond media, with Rupert Murdoch transitioning control to his eldest son, Lachlan.

Rightmove dismissed the initial offer as “opportunistic,” and some investors have voiced concerns over the bid’s structure, which involves a mix of cash and shares in the merged entity.

Iain McCombie, a fund manager at Baillie Gifford, commented last week: “Rightmove is by far the cheapest property portal in the world. REA Group saw that and made an offer. We won’t sell that cheaply because it’s a unique business with dominant market control.”
Sean Kealy, an analyst at Panmure Liberum, stated earlier this month that the Murdochs would need to offer a 60% premium to succeed, which would value Rightmove at approximately £7.1 billion.

According to the City’s takeover code, REA has until September 30 to either submit a formal offer or withdraw from the deal.

Both REA and Rightmove were contacted for comment.

Melbourne-based REA, which has a market value of A$26 billion (£13 billion), owns several property brands, including realestate.com. News Corp holds a controlling interest in the company.

Previously, News Corp was in talks to sell its US real estate division, Move Inc, in a deal reportedly worth $3 billion (£2.3 billion), but those discussions collapsed.

This led activist investor Starboard Value to call for the Murdochs to spin off REA. Starboard recently intensified its efforts, submitting a proposal to end the family’s control of News Corp.

These developments come as Rupert Murdoch, the 93-year-old family patriarch, seeks to amend a family trust to give sole control to his eldest son, Lachlan. However, this has sparked opposition from his other children, leading to a legal dispute currently unfolding behind closed doors in a Nevada courtroom.