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The portal wars are heating up overseas.
REA Group, a subsidiary of News Corp, which also owns Realtor.com, said on Monday that it was considering making an offer to buy Rightmove, the largest real estate portal in the United Kingdom.
The news comes as News Corp remains locked in a fierce battle with the top real estate portals in the United States, and it could show whether News Corp owner Rupert Murdoch plans to dig into the digital real estate market through the down market.
“The REA Board believes that there are clear similarities between REA and Rightmove in terms of their leading market positions in the core residential business, continued expansion and innovation of offerings across adjacent segments, leading audience share and strong brand awareness, as well as highly aligned cultural values,” the company said in a statement to the London Stock Exchange.
REA, an Australian company, didn’t say what it would pay for the acquisition. Rightmove’s market cap reached $7.1 billion on Tuesday after shares in the company jumped 20 percent on the news.
REA Group indicated it was considering a possible cash and share offer for the platform, according to Barron’s.
The acquisition would tee up the latest battle for market dominance between one of News Corp’s real estate holdings and CoStar Group, a global competitor.
While CoStar and Realtor.com are both chasing Zillow for the largest share of monthly consumer visits, both companies or their parent companies are now looking to dominate international markets where Zillow has less of a footprint.
CoStar acquired OnTheMarket, one of Rightmove’s rival real estate portals in the U.K., for about $126 million in December.
With the potential acquisition, REA Group said it could streamline operations between the U.K. and Australian companies and generate healthy profits.
“REA sees a transformational opportunity to apply its globally leading capabilities and expertise to enhance customer and consumer value across the combined portfolio and to create a global and diversified digital property company, with number 1 positions in Australia and the UK,” the company said.
Under U.K. laws, the company has until Sept. 30 to announce whether it firmly intends to move forward with a purchase, according to the statement.
