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Written by rosalind renshaw

Rightmove shares went through the roof on Friday amid speculation that it could be the target of a takeover bid by one of the big media houses.

Shares started the day at 715p and hit a record high of 796p, although finishing at around 740p.

Buyers were urged on by news that France’s equivalent of Rightmove, seloger.com, after reporting a 20% growth in profits to €10.4m for the first half of 2010, looks set to be snapped up by a European publishing giant.

German firm Axel Springer plans to launch a €34 per share public offer for the French portal in a deal which values it at  €566m – about £468m.

Axel Springer has already agreed to buy approximately 12.4% of the shares in seloger.com for around €70m and now intends to launch a public offer for the remaining 14.5m shares.

“Classified advertisements have been a core business of Axel Springer since the inception of the group,” said Dr Mathias Döpfner, Axel Springer CEO. “We are seeing a rapid migration of classified advertising from the print to the online world, and Axel Springer has already established itself as a major online player in several European markets.”

Axel Springer publishes over 175 titles in 30 countries and has a track record in wanting to make serious media purchases in the UK. In the past, it has looked to buy the Telegraph and Independent newspapers.

The news from across the Channel propelled Rightmove shares to their highest since flotation in 2006.

Analysts at brokers WH Ireland said Rightmove’s grip on the number one slot in online property advertising is “unassailable” and “near monopolisitic” – not what Rightmove’s UK competitors want to hear.

Rightmove is very cash generative and could represent a relatively cheap trophy asset for the right media house, said analysts.

Rightmove’s profits make its French counterpart’s look tiny. Last year it made nearly £42m in profits, and for the first six months of this year reported underlying profits of £26.8m.

Comments

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    In a nutshell.....

    Rightmove - best feedback of all the portals put together.

    PropertyLive - could be a valid threat that we would control but as usual the NAEA couldnt organise a whatsit in a brewery.

    I have on good authority that if each member agent paid £100 a month we could compete with Rightmove.

    its a no brainer so if the NAEA stop organising day trips for members and start getting a grip we can control our own destiny and for a lot less money than we are paying now!

    • 14 September 2010 21:55 PM
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    " Speaking as a property buyer..." WHAT?? You happily stated on other storylines that you have little or no intention of buying UNTIL someone lowers their price to meet your unreasonable expectations, so how can you justify your claim to be a buyer?

    • 14 September 2010 13:12 PM
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    It is also an anagram of Evil Property; Property Veil (apt - seeing as you can't see through it...); and Prep Evil Tory! I shudder to think... ;0)

    • 14 September 2010 12:57 PM
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    A vendor would rightly question an agents sanity if they said "see us on Property Live" , it hardly alive.

    • 14 September 2010 12:39 PM
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    Speaking as a property buyer/seller, I agree that RM is the best portal. I've tried others and found them just too fiddly with lots of annoying aspects. The only annoying thing about RM is that you have to know the property's postcode (as opposed to the road it's on) before you can access price comparisons. Some EAs give postcodes, others do not so it's a question of toddling over to zoopla to get the code.

    • 13 September 2010 16:57 PM
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    Agents HAVE to use Rightmove because it is the best and gives results.
    BUT agents should also use at least one other, alternative - one that they have at least some control over. If the NFoPP get their act together over PropertyLive (free)could be reasoable successful - at the moment it is very poor.
    NFoPP wake-up or give up!

    • 13 September 2010 14:48 PM
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    ...and thus create the next 'monster' for you all to complain about!

    No-one had this much to say when RM were in their infancy. It has grown; it needs fed. Like all of your year-on-year targets, theirs goes up.

    Do ANY of you complain to the Electricity Board; British Gas; Shell/Esso/whichever that they should reduce their charges to Estate Agents in order to bolster your profit margins?

    Not the same? Oh - I think you will find it is...

    • 13 September 2010 14:41 PM
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    "Your" (clients) listings are not worth very much on their own if the majority of the right people are unable to see them.

    You are the petrol, Rm are the car, neither much use on their own.

    • 13 September 2010 14:40 PM
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    I've always found by working with successful partners like Right Move I am also successful. I suggest the moaners put their future in the hands of people that can't make profits for themselves or advertise their own business let alone help yours.

    • 13 September 2010 14:07 PM
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    Rightmove's profit is NOT your money. If you want to play that card, you could say that the commision you earn is your client's money.

    Keep using Rightmove and stop your moaning or stop using them and end of story.

    The fact that there is an argument and that others are egging others on to leave simply highlights the importance it offers to your business.

    If you don't like it, leave. Simples.

    • 13 September 2010 14:05 PM
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    I also agree with Simon -it's time to wise up. Put up or shut up - nobody forces you to use Rightmove, we use it because it is still by far the best portal and if you compare the cost of newspaper advertising to the cost of Rightmove and then compare the coverage it's really a no brainer.
    At the end of the day Rightmove is a business -in it to make money just like the rest of us. The reason they are making money is because they give agents what they need or else no one would use them. Until the majority of people start to use other portals on mass - Rightmove will always be the market leader - thats life!

    • 13 September 2010 13:35 PM
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    Personally, I would call them good businesspeople...

    If you don't want the benefits, or if you believe the benefits are outweighed by the cost - the LEAVE.

    Simples!

    • 13 September 2010 13:27 PM
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    Eric - and whoever-at-NFoPP-Towers-who-can-do-something-about-it is reading this... The main issue with PL is FAR more worrying than that. (And, for once, I am NOT going to use this as a platform to defend RM!!)

    Here's the thing: Seeing as today I'm sitting in Durham, I've just done a search on PropertyLive. Location - "DH1" (obviously, the main Durham City postcode). All other search parameters I left empty. The results - 1 property. ONE!! And that is a piece of land that's been hawked about since Trevor Kent's puberty! (okay - maybe not that long...)

    Increase the parameter to "Durham (the county of)". Results - over 1000; but on the first page (10 results per page), same piece of land tops the bill, followed by 6 in Northumberland, 2 in Tyne and Wear, and finally another piece of land in County Durham! Page 2 was no better; page 3 didn't have a single County Durham property on it!!

    Congratulations (or should that be commiserations) to those few Agencies who have bothered to list their properties. One Agency in particular who is conspicuous in their absence has a Director who is/was on the Regional Branch Committee! Speaks volumes, I would suggest.

    Yes - finding the site is a pain. Just as well, if you ask me - as the "user experience" is bl00dy abysmal!

    As a once proud member, it pains me that so little is done to promote the NFopp - and what IS done, is done so poorly. That is NOT a dig at Peter Bolton King - he has taken over the task of trying to swim in treacle with both hands tied behind his back where others failed. Good luck to him in his efforts - but without the backing of both the Federation AND its' members, what chance does he have?

    • 13 September 2010 13:25 PM
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    SIMON...VERY VERY WELL SAID!!!!!!!!

    Are some of you guys having a laugh....? seriously?

    Rightmove are not screwing anyone.

    Look...
    - Agents are not leaving Rightmove, so drop that dream

    - They make Agents make Money, like FP,Zoopla, Gumtree etc. RM are just the best at it.

    - They are a business not a charity or public sector company

    - The £42m IS NOT YOUR MONEY its YOUR CLIENTS MONEY

    - There tonnes of agents out there still making money, if you are NOT...then your must be a rubbish agent PERIOD.

    Stop blaming others for your failures!

    • 13 September 2010 13:03 PM
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    Razor you can vote with your feet, don't blame rightmove for making a profit, they are a business not a charity.

    • 13 September 2010 12:59 PM
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    Eric Walker.
    You are so right.
    NFoPP should (MUST) get their act together - in fact stop playing politics and get proactive in Propertylive and everything else that affects the well being of the membership!

    • 13 September 2010 12:57 PM
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    Just had a notification that rightmove are increasing our membership fees by 20% from 1st November 2010 after just announcing an increase of 27 million profit in the first 6mths of this year, says it all! greedy B*stards!

    • 13 September 2010 12:55 PM
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    Don't shoot me but I think Rightmove is exceptional value for money, even at their increased prices (NO I don't work for them). The user experience (ie buyers) is excellent. The tools for agents (Best Price Guide, etc) are really useful. The ability to track your competitors is fantastic. It is also cobnsiderably better than the competition (PL, Globrix, et al). All for less than of a third of what I used to pay for the local newspaper. I am a hobby web designer and it really is one of the best websites out there.

    • 13 September 2010 12:49 PM
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    The issue over rightmove v propertylive is more practical. I want PL to work. I have supported it from the start BUT If you undertake any generic search using standard key words, you cant propertylive on the first pages of Google. There are no keywords or meta tags on the site and the SEO is terrible. Considering the content and number of links, its performance is awful. No matter what search criteria used, you cant find the site unless you know its name - yet it isn't advertised! There in lies the problem. Whilst first page of google remains dominated by other sites, who will have the guts to favour PL? I have checked analytics yet cant find any leads from the site.

    • 13 September 2010 12:40 PM
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    Shame PropertyLive are going to shoot themselves in the foot by not accepting uploads from non licensed members from June then....

    • 13 September 2010 11:36 AM
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    Come on guys grow up!
    Now for some facts, estate agency has more millionaires than any other business sector, we are no strangers to making money, yes if you are good then it is hard work but as the majority of us know the returns can be excellent, so stop moaning about somebody making money out of us, to be totally honest if you are not making very good profit from this business then you should be doing something else, its there to be made (even in this market) if you are good
    Get on with doing a good job rather than moaning about Rightmove making money!

    • 13 September 2010 10:57 AM
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    Pretty risky with Google flashing their teeth at Rightmove. Estate agents should be more pro active, pay for SEO on their own websites and use the free to advertise portals such as LocalPropertyIndex.com for marketing. Combined estate agents should be able to avoid the high charges of RM and receive volume enquiries.

    • 13 September 2010 10:56 AM
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    Wake-up you agents!
    It is well known that Rightmove is needed by you all at the moment but at least start using an additional portal that you have some control over - PropertyLive. Give it support and above all 'exposure' and it can succeed

    • 13 September 2010 10:54 AM
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    What do you think of rightmove's charges when you see them making £42M per annum when sales volumes are at such a low level?

    We should arrange a mutiny!

    The 42m they make is our money. when a company makes that much it just shows you how much they are screwing us for.

    • 13 September 2010 10:34 AM
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    RM is an animal that can only survive if agents give them the business. If agents start to go, then those left will probably have increased fee's. New owners only want to make money at the end of the day! Maybe the bubble is about to burst for the big protals, they have been taking a ride on agents backs for far too long, by making AGENTS FEAR THEY ARE DEPENDENT ON THEM.

    • 13 September 2010 10:32 AM
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    Its the estate agents' property content that is worth £46M per annum in profits. Without our content they'd have no web traffic. Does anyone have the bottle to back a different property portal that charges less and gives us shares in the website plus the promise of a future income stream instead of a promise of ever increasing charges each month?

    What do you think of rightmove's charges when you see them making £42M per annum when sales volumes are at such a low level?

    • 13 September 2010 10:17 AM
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    I do hope the buyers are aware that Right Move have software/server problems for the past three weeks with the displaying of property images. The solution / compensation could be costly! Let us see if they declare it!

    • 13 September 2010 10:16 AM
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