An Australian property portal firm owned by Rupert Murdoch has pulled out of its £6.2bn pursuit to buy Rightmove ahead of a 5pm ‘put up or shut up’ deadline.
REA Group had tabled four proposals to take over the UK business, with the last coming in on Friday, worth 781p a share.
However, it now “confirms that it does not intend to make an offer for Rightmove,” ahead of a deadline this evening, when it must make a formal offer for the business, or walk away.
REA added that the two firms met twice over the weekend, but were unable to come to an agreement.
It said in a stock market statement: “The lack of meaningful engagement and the consistent lack of information provided by Rightmove impeded the ability to progress discussions and work together towards a recommended transaction, within the timetable permitted.
“All other contact has been cursory and procedural.”
But the Australian business maintains that a merger would have been best for both firms.
It added: “REA believes the proposed combination would have provided Rightmove shareholders the opportunity to meaningfully participate in a fast-growing, diversified, global leader whilst receiving value certainty in an operating environment challenged by increased market competition.”
REA chief executive Owen Wilson said: “We were disappointed with the limited engagement from Rightmove that impeded our ability to make a firm offer within the timetable available. They had nothing to lose by engaging with us.
“We are always financially disciplined when we look at M&A and reinvestment in our business and will continue to focus on the many other opportunities ahead of us.”
The final offer by Richmond-based REA, which is held by News Corp, offered the Rightmove board a proposal worth 781p for the firm’s shares, valuing the business at £6.2bn late last week.
REA said this was an 11% increase on its second bid for Rightmove on 5 September and a 41% premium on the UK firm’s undisturbed share price on 30 August, the day before the Australian firm’s interest became public.
Rightmove shareholders would have held around 20% of the enlarged business.
REA employs almost 3,000 staff trades across Australia, Asia and the US under several brands, including PropTrack, realator.com and PropTiger.com.
