News Corp’s Bid for Property Site “$51m Short”

Another in the valuation tizzy: News Corp’s $2 per share takeover bid for Australian property website realestate.com.au undervalues the company by between AUS$51 million and AUS$78 million, according to an independent expert’s report released yesterday.

That report was the underpinning as the site rejected the takeover bid by News Limited, which owns 43.5 per cent of the shares in the site, Australia’s most popular online home search engine.

Independent expert Lonergan Edwards & Associates said realestate.com.au was valued at between $2.48 and $2.73 per share, giving the company a market value of between $266 million and $293 million. The News Limited offer values the company at $214 million.

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