MOC Mortgage Choice Limited

   By Stuart Condie 
 

SYDNEY--REA Group Ltd. has offered to buy Australian home-loan broker Mortgage Choice Ltd. in a move the property advertiser said will leverage its large audience to build a leading broking business.

REA on Monday said its all-cash proposal was worth 1.95 Australian dollars ($1.49) a share, representing a 66% premium to the stock's last closing price. It said the offer represented an enterprise value of approximately A$244 million.

REA said it would fund the transaction through an increase of its existing syndicated debt facilities. It expects to partially refinance its existing A$170 million facility, which is due to expire in December.

Mortgage Choice's independent directors have unanimously recommended acceptance of the offer.

Mortgage Choice represents more than 500 brokers and 380 franchises across Australia's property market, which has been stoked by record low interest rates, government stimulus and easing lending standards. With more than 30 lending partners, the 30-year-old company had a loan book of A$54 billion and settlements of A$11 billion in the 2020 calendar year.

It reported a net profit of A$4.1 million in the first half of fiscal 2021, which ended on December 31.

REA already offers broking services through its Smartline Mortgage Advisers business. Financial services contributed A$11.7 million of REA's A$413.4 million Australian revenue for the six months through December.

REA said it expects the acquisition to be immediately earnings accretive and to offer potential future cost and revenue synergies. It expects the deal, which is subject to approvals including by Australia's Foreign Investment Review Board, to be completed before the end of June.

REA is 61% owned by News Corp., which also owns Dow Jones & Co., the publisher of this newswire and The Wall Street Journal.

Write to Stuart Condie at stuart.condie@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 28, 2021 19:21 ET (23:21 GMT)

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