Shares of Rightmove Plc experienced their largest drop in almost a year after REA Group, owned by Rupert Murdoch, abandoned its acquisition efforts following four rejected buyout proposals by the UK property portal.
The Australian company announced it would not make an offer for Rightmove in a statement. Rightmove's stock fell by as much as 11%, marking its biggest intra-day decline since October last year, and closed down 8%. Despite this, the stock remains up 11% from its closing price on August 30, when news of REA's acquisition intentions first emerged. Meanwhile, REA Group's stock surged, rising by as much as 4% in early trading after the announcement.
Rightmove urged REA to present a "best and final" offer after rejecting the fourth proposal, which valued the company at £6.2 billion. Rightmove reiterated in a statement that the latest offer was still unattractive and significantly undervalued the company. According to the statement, the board unanimously deemed the proposal unappealing and urged REA to submit a final offer by the regulatory deadline.
