Nine shares soar by 20%, Domain up 40%, after Costar offer
Nine's 2024 upfront
Nine shares are up by over 20%, with Domain soaring by almost 40% after US real estate giant Costar made a takeover bid for Domain.
American real estate giant Costar made a formal takeover offer after buying up 16.9% of the real estate listings company on Thursday evening.
Nine, who owns 60% of the real estate listings company, made a market update acknowledging the “receipt of an unsolicited, non-binding indicative proposal from Costar and that the Domain board has “commenced an assessment” of the offer, which would see the US giant take 100% ownership of Domain, in a deal that would value the company at $2.7 billion.
As part of the deal, Costar requires “unanimous approval” of Domain’s board.
“Domain is of strategic importance to Nine’s media ecosystem and our long-term growth strategy,” Nine’s market update reads.
“Nine will consider the proposal with a focus on the best interests of Nine shareholders.”
At 3pm, Nine shares were up 21.67%, while Domain’s major rival and market leader, the News Corp-owned REA Group, has dropped 11% in response to the news.
Interestingly, at $4.36 a share — a intraday jump of 39.74% — Domain’s share price has now pushed past Costar’s offer, which valued the shares at $4.20. Domain was trading at $3.12 a share when the market closed on Thursday.
US-based Costar has a market cap of over A$50 billion (US$32.11b) and runs homes.com and apartments.com – two of the top five listings sites in America.
Editor’s note: Mumbrella has changed the way it deals with company names. House style is now to use standard proper noun capitalisation on all names regardless of brand typography. Brand typograhy may be retained in direct quotes from releases.
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Domain valuation at 2.7m???