News Corp to buy real estate website operator Move for $950 million

[September 30, 2014]  (Reuters) - Rupert Murdoch's News Corp said it would buy Move Inc, the owner of property websites such as realtor.com, for about $950 million to expand its digital marketing business.

News Corp said it would pay $21 per share, a premium of 37 percent to Move's closing price on Monday. Moves's shares rose 17.7 percent to $18 in premarket trading.

Australian real estate website REA Group Ltd, which is 61.6 percent owned by News Corp, will take a 20 percent stake in Move for about $200 million, News Corp said.

"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," News Corp CEO Robert Thomson said in a statement.

News Corp owns the Wall Street Journal as well as newspapers in the United Kingdom and Australia.

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

Zillow agreed to buy Trulia for $3.5 billion in July, combining the top two U.S. real estate websites.

The Move network of websites, accessible through Move.com, reaches about 35 million people per month, News Corp and Move said in a joint release.

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.

Goldman Sachs was the financial adviser to News Corp and Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher and Flom LLP was legal adviser. Morgan Stanley was Move's financial adviser, while Cooley LLP acted as legal adviser.

(Reporting by Soham Chatterjee and Lehar Maan in Bangalore; Editing by Ted Kerr)
 

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