Nine shares soar by 20%, Domain up 40%, after Costar offer

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.