Shares in Rightmove, the online property portal, have risen sharply on confirmation of bid interest from an Australian rival majority-owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp.
REA Group said early on Monday it was considering a takeover proposal to create a globally-focused real estate company.
Any bid would likely comprise a cash and shares offer. No approach has been made to date, REA said.
Money latest: Major bank to allow first-time buyers to borrow up to 5.5 times salary
REA is 61%-owned by News Corp, which has existing UK interests including The Sun and The Times newspaper brands under the company's News UK arm.
Shares in Rightmove jumped 24% to 689p when the FTSE 100 opened for business, taking them to their highest level in two-and-a-half years.
Rightmove, which makes money from listing real estate agents on its website, had a market value of almost £4.4bn as of Friday's close.
Analysts at Investec in a note agreed with REA's stand, the Reuters news agency reported, that the offer and the enlarged group presents a highly attractive investment opportunity given an easing interest rate environment in the UK and recent new investment starting to pay off.
Read more from Sky News:
Business leaders fire warning on workers' rights and tax hikes
Oasis tickets fallout: Pressure builds for change in the law
REA stock, however, fell 8%.
Under the UK's takeover code, it has to update the market if it has a firm intention to make a bid by 30 September.
Rightmove was yet to comment.
Disclaimer: The copyright of this article belongs to the original author. Reposting this article is solely for the purpose of information dissemination and does not constitute any investment advice. If there is any infringement, please contact us immediately. We will make corrections or deletions as necessary. Thank you.
