News Corp. purchases Realtor.com parent

News Corp. CEO Robert Thomson sent the following announcement out to the staff on Tuesday:

Today we are announcing plans for our latest – and largest – acquisition, one that will have a profound and positive effect on our business.

We intend to acquire Move, Inc., a major online real estate platform in America.  Once complete, News Corp will become one of the leading players in the US and international digital property market – a market that we believe is poised for substantial growth.

As you know, we have real estate experience by virtue of our 61.6% ownership stake in the REA Group, operator of Australia’s #1 property website, as well as the extensive property work done by our newspapers around the world, such as The Wall Street Journal, with its Mansion portal.  Adding Move to our portfolio is fully consistent with our digital and global growth strategy.

Move has much going for it – its websites, including the popular realtor.com^® , convert more leads into sales than any other digital property business.  The business also benefits from its significant ties to the National Association of Realtors^® (“NAR”), whose one million members are crucial players in bringing together homebuyers and sellers, landlords and renters.  We look forward to a strong partnership with NAR.

And News Corp has much to complement Move – along with our knowledge of the world of real estate, we offer platforms, sales, marketing, news and technology expertise. We intend to turbo-charge traffic and make the site more compelling with our content.  REA plans to become a 20% stakeholder and will be an important and extremely able partner as we rapidly build Move’s future.

I encourage you to read the announcement for more details on this major moment in News Corp’s new life.  As noted, the acquisition is subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions, and we expect it to close by the end of this calendar year.  Move will continue to operate with headquarters in San Jose, California, and we look forward to it becoming an integral part of News Corp and our prosperous future.