News Corp to acquire online US real estate business Move

September 30, 2014 — Fusion DigiNet

newscorpRupert Murdoch’s media company News Corp is to acquire Move, an online US real estate business. REA Group Limited, which is 61.6% owned by News Corp and is the operator of the Australian residential property website, realestate.com.au, plans to hold a 20% stake in Move with 80% held by News Corp.

moveThrough realtor.com and its mobile applications, Move displays more than 98% of all for-sale properties listed in the US, sourced directly from relationships with more than 800 Multiple Listing Services across the country. The Move Network of websites, which also includes Move.com, reaches approximately 35 million people per month, who spend an average of 22 minutes each on its sites.

realtorNews Corp will acquire all the outstanding shares of Move for $21 per share, or approximately $950 million (net of Move’s existing cash balance), via an all-cash tender offer. This represents a premium of 37% over Move’s closing stock price on September 29, 2014. REA’s share will be acquired for approximately US$200 million. News Corp intends to commence a tender offer for all of the shares of common stock of Move within 10 business days, followed by a merger to acquire any untendered shares.

For the year ended December 31, 2013, Move reported $227 million in revenues, and $29 million in adjusted EBITDA

“This acquisition will accelerate News Corp’s digital and global expansion and contribute to the transformation of our company, making online real estate a powerful pillar of our portfolio,” said Robert Thomson, Chief Executive of News Corp. “We intend to use our media platforms and compelling content to turbo-charge traffic growth and create the most successful real estate website in the US. We are building on our existing real estate expertise and expect to leverage the potential of Move and its valuable connections with Realtors® and consumers around the country.”

Move owns ListHub, a digital platform that aggregates and syndicates MLS data to more than 130 online publishers, reaching approximately 900 websites.

Move will become an operating business of News Corp and remain headquartered in San Jose, California. The company, started in 1993, has 913 employees.

USA, New York, NY & San Jose, CA

Related articles:

Posted in Content Media, e-Commerce, Internet Media, ~North America. Tags: , , . Leave a Comment »