REA Group makes initial takeover offer for UK property giant Rightmove, Bloomberg News reports

(Reuters) – Rupert Murdoch-owned property listings firm REA Group has made an initial takeover offer for Britain’s Rightmove, Bloomberg News reported on Tuesday citing people familiar with the matter.

News Corp-backed REA Group had last week announced its interest in buying Rightmove to create a global real estate company. The current market capitalization of Rightmove is about $6.92 billion, making it Britain’s largest property portal.

REA has submitted an initial proposal valuing Rightmove at around 700 pence per share, according to the report. The offer would represent a premium of 26% from the closing price on Aug. 30.

Discussions are ongoing and there is no certainty a deal will result, the report added.

Rightmove declined to comment, while REA did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

REA now has until Sept. 30 to make a formal offer for Rightmove, under the UK’s takeover rules.

(Reporting by Adwitiya Srivastava in Bengaluru; Additional reporting by Aaditya Govind Rao; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri)