One swallow does not make a summer, but a migratory bird from Australia deserves attention. Seeing News Corp Australia’s REA Group considering a bid for Rightmove , the UK’s leading online property classifieds portal, gives financial investors yet another reason to hope the tide is turning in favour of British stocks.
The sector most affected by the rise in interest rates should benefit from monetary easing. And the new Labour government has a favourable aura in the housing sector. Morgan Stanley experts have also made the United Kingdom their preferred country in Europe in the field of real estate companies.
The listed entity of the Murdoch group will have to declare itself by the end of the month. Its offer, which could combine a payment in cash and shares, retains an “opportunistic” financial flavor. The spectacular stock market rebound of the London target (+27%) leaves it 12% below the record of December 2021.
Competition and synergies
And its valuation multiple (around 25 times estimated earnings for the next 12 months) is about half that of the Melbourne contender, which is already active internationally.
The latter could be cooled by the entry of a big American competitor and the weakness of the synergies to be extracted. In any case, the City can continue to hope that the worst is well behind it.
