Billionaire Rupert Murdoch's REA Group has made a fourth sweet bid to buy Rightmove worth £6.2bn, urging the UK property portal's board to “engage now”. .
Rightmove on Monday rejected a third offer from an Australian rival worth a total of £6.1bn. 
The move also comes as Rightmove shareholder AXA Investment Managers, which owns around 1% of the business, valued at around £67m, said this week it was time for the UK board to hold “serious” discussions with the REA. This was done in response to what was said.
Under UK takeover rules, REA has until September 30 to make a formal offer for Rightmove or exit.
“REA stands ready to engage immediately and strongly believes that engagement is essential to progressing the proposal, and the RightMove board has requested an extension of the September 30, 2024 deadline to allow that engagement. It should be recognized.”
Richmond-based REA, which is owned by News Corp, has now proposed a bid worth 781p for the company's shares to Rightmove's board, valuing the business at £6.2bn.
According to REA, this is an 11% increase on the second bid price for Rightmove on September 5 and the UK company's uneventful share price on August 30, the day before the Australian company's interest was made public. The amount is said to be an additional 41% premium.
REA said in a stock market statement that Rightmove shareholders will own approximately 20% of the expanded business.
Owen Wilson, CEO of REA, said: “While Rightmove's board declined to meet with us, we have enjoyed the opportunity to connect with Rightmove's shareholders and share our vision of uniting the number one digital real estate business in the UK and Australia.
“We continue to see the potential to strengthen Rightmove and accelerate its growth. This is an exciting opportunity to create technology leaders.”
“We are announcing today that we intend to further improve our offer and include a mix-and-match feature for shareholders who wish to receive more consideration in their REA shares.”
REA employs approximately 3,000 staff across Australia, Asia and the United States under several brands including PropTrack, realator.com and PropTiger.com.
Updated at 2:40pm:
“Rightmove said in a statement on the stock market: “As we have done throughout the process, the board will consider the latest proposal with its financial advisors, during which time shareholders will are also asked to take no action.”
“There is no certainty as to whether any offers will be made to us or the terms on which any offers will be made.”
