News Corp to buy property website owner Move for $950m

Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp is to buy US company Move, the owner of property websites such as realtor.com, for about $1bn to expand its digital marketing business.



News Corp will buy 80% of Move for $950m (£586m); Australian real estate website REA Group, which is 61.6% owned by News Corp, is to take the remaining 20% for about $200m in an all-cash deal unanimously approved by the property company’s board.

The Move network of websites, accessible through Move.com, reaches about 35m people a month, News Corp and Move said in a joint release on Tuesday. In its most recent quarterly results, for the three months to the end of June, it reported a 7% year-on-year increase in revenues to $61.3m, with adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of $3.1m.

News Corp said it would commence a tender offer for Move shares within 10 business days and expected the deal to close by the end of the year.

Murdoch’s book and newspaper publishing business had several billion dollars for acquisitions when it split from the 21st Century Fox TV and film operation last year. The News Corp chairman was reported to have his eye on buying more US newspapers, including the Tribune-owned Los Angeles Times.

Robert Thomson, News Corp chief executive, said the Move deal would “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”.

Thomson added: “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.

“In addition to boosting Move’s subscription, advertising and software services, this acquisition will give News Corp a significant marketing platform for our media assets, which will benefit from the high-quality geographic data generated by real estate searches.”

News Corp said on Tuesday it would pay $21 a share, a premium of 37% on Move’s closing price in New York on Monday. Move’s shares rose 17.7% to $18 in premarket trading.

News Corp owns book publisher HarperCollins and the Wall Street Journal, along with UK titles the Sun, Times and Sunday Times, and a large portfolio of Australian papers.

Move, which also operates moving.com and SeniorHousing.net, mainly competes with Trulia, owner of Trulia.com, and Zillow Inc, which owns zillow.com.

Zillow agreed to buy Trulia for $3.5bn in July, combining the top two US real estate websites.