Foreign investment board gives green light to Domain takeover

Nathan Jolly

July 25, 2025 10:57

The Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB) has greenlit the proposed $3 billion takeover of Domain by US property listings giant Costar.

In an ASX listing by Domain, it confirmed that Costar had received written notice from FIRB, stating that the Commonwealth Government “has no objections to the proposed scheme”. This would see the US company pay $4.43 per share for the remainder of Domain, resulting in its 100% ownership by Costar.

Domain shareholders will vote on the sale on August 4. The Domain Board “unanimously recommends” its shareholders vote in favour, with the company’s directors “each intend[ing] to vote all the Domain shares held or controlled by, or on behalf of, them in favour of the scheme.”

Domain is worth $3 billion, according to the Costar sale.

Majority owner Nine Entertainment, which holds 60.05% of the shares, has also confirmed “it intends to vote all of the Domain shares it holds or controls in favour of the scheme in the absence of a superior proposal.”

FIRB approval was the final hurdle for the $3 billion takeover deal, following court approval, and independent audits of the proposed deal.

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. For speculation on what the network will do with this cash injection, listen to this week’s Mumbrellacast.