Domain sale approved by shareholders
Domain’s shareholders have overwhelmingly voted in favour of a proposed $3 billion takeover of Domain by US property listings giant Costar.
According to an ASX listing, 99.98% of the votes cast were in favour of the sale, with 91.22% of Domain shareholders voting in favour of the proposition.
This was expected. The Domain Board “unanimously” recommended its shareholders vote in favour of the sale, while majority owner Nine Entertainment, which holds 60.05% of the shares, confirmed earlier this year it intended to vote yes, “in the absence of a superior proposal.”
The sale still needs court approval, with a hearing set for Wednesday morning. Last week, the Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB) greenlit the takeover, stating the Commonwealth Government “has no objections to the proposed scheme”.
Domain is worth $3 billion, according to the Costar sale.
Costar is helmed by billionaire Andy Florance, and has a market cap of over A$50 billion (US$32b). It owns homes.com and apartments.com – two of the top listings sites in America.
In 2023, it bought out UK’s On The Market listings platform, and started its move into the Australian real estate market in February, buying close to 17% of Domain’s stock, before lobbing an initial takeover bid that same month.
Florance told a Costar earnings in May he intends to “bring what we built in Homes.com to Australia and the United Kingdom to win over consumers.” Florance has tapped former Domain chief executive Jason Pellegrino to run Domain in Australia once the deal is completed.
Nine Entertainment stands to make around $1.4 billion from the deal.
The sale is set to be implemented on August 27.
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