REA’s offer is worth 770p per Rightmove share, made up of 341p in cash and 0.0422 new REA shares. The first approach on 5 September of 705p per share, or £5.6bn, was rejected by Rightmove which said it “fundamentally” undervalued the company. On Friday the offer was sweetened by £300m.

Owen Wilson, chief executive of the Australian digital property business, said he was “genuinely disappointed at the lack of engagement by Rightmove’s board”.

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com