The Nine-owned digital real estate business is in the sights of US suitor CoStar, which has already picked up close to a 20 per cent stake.
The Nine-owned digital real estate business is in the sights of US suitor CoStar, which has already picked up close to a 20 per cent stake.
By Supratim Adhikari
February 20, 2025 — 7.34pm
Nine Entertainment-owned Domain is poised to tackle a takeover offer from US property giant CoStar, which has picked up close to a 20 per cent stake in the digital real estate business.
Nine, the owner of The Sydney Morning Herald, Age and Australian Financial Review, has a 60 per cent stake in Domain, and the bid for the business comes as it conducts a strategic review of its overall operations.
The news of the share raid by CoStar was first reported in The Australian Financial Review’s Street Talk, which noted that Macquarie Capital had bought shares on behalf of the US company at $4.20 a share.
Domain shares have been trading at about $3, and closed at $3.12 on Thursday, giving it a market cap of $1.97 billion. The price paid by CoStar for the Domain shares values the business at $2.7 billion.
A potential sale would mark a significant shake-up of the local real estate classifieds market, which has largely been dominated by the News Corp-owned REA Group, with Domain coming in a distant second.
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CoStar’s interest also offers Nine an opportunity to test the waters on whether it’s worth rebalancing its portfolio of assets, which includes publishing, broadcast, streaming and radio businesses.
In January, acting Nine chief executive Matt Stanton announced a restructure that included a new marketplaces division, led by chief digital officer Alex Parsons, aimed at getting better returns from Domain and Drive.
“The creation of a marketplaces division will provide greater focus on Domain and Drive, ensuring we capitalise on value-creation opportunities across the group,” Stanton said at the time.
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Domain lost its chief executive Jason Pellegrino in October and is yet to appoint a permanent replacement. Earlier this month, Domain said board member and former REA boss Greg Ellis would serve as interim chief executive.
The takeover target this month posted a 7.4 per cent jump in revenue to $217.2 million for the first half of fiscal 2025, just short of analysts expectation of $220.5 million. Core earnings for the period landed at a better than expected $77.8 million.
Nasdaq-listed CoStar, which is valued at $US32.5 billion ($51 billion), provides commercial real estate data to investors, property managers and the real estate industry.
It also operates a number of listing platforms including CoStar, LoopNet, Apartments.com, and Ten-X.
Domain was contacted for comment.
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Supratim Adhikari is a technology and business journalist with digital experience. Stints at Business Spectator, The Australian.
Better than average cook, pretty handy with knives and guitar.
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