OnTheMarket (OTM) owner CoStar Group is set to buy Australia’s number two portal Domain as a stablemate to OTM.

Domain will cost CoStar just over £1.1 billion, after already purchasing 17% of the shares, dwarfing its purchase of OTM.

Big revenue drop

A big drop in revenue hasn’t stopped the global giant from making a bid for Domain, which is now subject to shareholder approval but is expected to be voted through.

Full-year net income at Domain was down last year to $139 million from $375 million in 2023, according to Onlinemarketplaces.com.

Costar purchased OTM for £100 million in October 2023 but Andy Florance, the Founder and CEO at CoStar, later ruled out any takeover bids for Rightmove or Zoopla.

A move by Australian portal REA Group for Rightmove fell through last year prompting speculation that other buyers might be interested.

Unseat

CoStar made a bold claim that it intended to unseat Rightmove as the best performing portal in the UK.

It has 75 offices in 13 countries, and bought US portal Homes.com in 2021, in an attempt to challenge Zillow in the American market.

Nick Falloon, Chair and Non-Executive Director at Domain, says: “The Domain Board has carefully considered the CoStar Group proposal and believes it represents compelling value and a high degree of certainty for Domain shareholders, through the cash offer and limited conditionality.

“This proposal reinforces the strong fundamentals of Domain, which we are confident will be further realized with CoStar’s support.”