News Corp has acquired the third most-trafficked property portal in the United States, Move.com. The deal is intended to expand News Corp's presence in real estate globally.
The $950 million deal means News Corp, who own 61.6 per cent of REA Group which operate relaestate.com.au, can obtain a large proportion of the online advertising market.
News Corp Chief Executive Robert Thomson told the Wall Street Journal that digital real estate is an important pillar of News Corps global digital strategy.
"We believe there is a massive market in the U.S. for online real estate revenue and we believe this market is in its early stage of development,” Mr Thomson said.
“Moving into the area of digital real estate offered News Corp, who owns Wall Street Journal and the New York Post, clear synergy with its core businesses and an opportunity to reclaim territory lost as print classified advertising has increasingly migrated to the Web.”
The deal, which is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2014, would give News Corp an 80 per cent share in Move, with REA Group controlling the rest.
Move runs the real-estate listings sites Realtor.com and Move.com.