REA Group has struck a deal to acquire a 35 per cent interest in Irish digital marketplace business Distilled, marking a significant new international investment two years after its unsuccessful attempt to acquire UK property portal Rightmove.
The Australianowner of realestate.com.au will pay approximately €248 million, or A$409 million, for the non-controlling stake, with the acquisition to be funded through debt and existing cash reserves.
The deal gives REA exposure to a portfolio of leading property and classifieds platforms across Ireland and Northern Ireland, including Daft.ie, which REA describes as Ireland’s number one residential property portal, and PropertyPal, the number one property portal in Northern Ireland.
Distilled also owns DoneDeal.ie, Ireland’s number one automotive marketplace, Used Cars NI, Northern Ireland’s number one automotive marketplace, and general classifieds website Adverts.ie.
For Australia’s real estate industry, however, the significance of the transaction extends beyond another offshore investment.
The deal marks REA’s return to a European property portal play after its much larger attempt to acquire Rightmove ended without a transaction in September 2024.
REA made four proposals for Rightmove during the process, beginning with a non-binding indicative proposal on September 5, 2024 that implied a value of 705 pence per Rightmove share.
That was followed by a 749p proposal and then a third proposal worth an implied 770p per share, valuing Rightmove at approximately £6.1 billion.
REA submitted its fourth proposal on September 27, offering 346p in cash and 0.0417 new REA shares for each Rightmove share, together with a 6p special dividend.
Based on REA’s closing share price on September 27, the cash-and-share component implied a value of 775p per Rightmove share, before the special dividend.
Rightmove rejected the fourth proposal, saying it remained “unattractive” and continued to materially undervalue the company and its future prospects.
During discussions between the two companies, REA also sought an extension of the UK takeover deadline and access to due diligence information, which would have allowed it to consider a potential fifth proposal.
Rightmove declined both requests, saying none of REA’s proposals had reached a sufficient level to warrant providing access to confidential and commercially sensitive information.
The process subsequently ended without an acquisition, but the Distilled transaction represents a markedly different approach.
Rather than seeking outright control of a major listed portal, REA is taking a minority position in an established private operator, with Distilled’s existing leadership and shareholders remaining invested in the business.
Distilled chief executive and co-founder Eamonn Fallon will continue to lead the company and remain a meaningful shareholder following completion, while the ownership structure will bring together Distilled’s founders, Irish-based investment manager Blacksheep Fund Management and REA.
Daft.ie was co-founded by brothers Eamonn and Brian Fallon in 1997, with the corporate entity later becoming Distilled and expanding to include Adverts.ie, DoneDeal.ie, PropertyPal and Used Cars NI.
Each business operates independently under its own brand, with separate sales, customer success, marketing, product and technology teams and separate technology stacks.
Distilled generated €72.4 million in revenue and adjusted last-12-month EBITDA of €43.3 million as of June 2026, and REA said the company had delivered consistent double-digit revenue and EBITDA compound annual growth over the previous five years.
The investment is expected to be modestly accretive to REA’s core earnings per share in the first year following completion.
REA has also identified similarities between the Irish and Australian property markets as a key part of its rationale for the deal, including the increasing adoption of vendor-paid advertising.
The company said Ireland and Northern Ireland were digitally developed, growing property markets with structural characteristics similar to Australia, while pointing to Ireland’s economic and population growth and strong housing demand.
REA also sees an opportunity to bring its experience in audience-led marketplaces, vendor-paid advertising, premium products, data and product development to the Distilled business.
REA Group chief executive Cameron McIntyre said the investment would extend the company’s core property strategy into another market.
“This is an exciting opportunity to extend our core property strategy into an attractive, profitable, high growth market, with increasing adoption of vendor paid advertising and where our intellectual property and technology is directly relevant,” Mr McIntyre said.
“The investment provides immediate exposure to an exceptional business with a strong growth trajectory and a portfolio of high-growth assets.
“Distilled has an experienced management team with a proven track record of building leading businesses. I look forward to working closely with Eamonn and the Distilled team to leverage our combined skills and expertise.”
Mr Fallon said REA was a natural fit for Distilled.
“We are delighted to welcome REA onboard. REA is a natural partner for Distilled, combining leadership in digital marketplaces with capabilities that can support our growth,”
he said.
“There are clear opportunities for collaboration and we look forward to tapping into REA’s experience to create new value for customers, consumers and partners. Our shared values and strong cultural alignment provide a solid foundation for the partnership.”
The deal adds to REA’s existing international interests.
The Melbourne-headquartered group holds a 20 per cent shareholding in Move Inc, operator of realtor.com in the US, and a controlling interest in Canadian 3D tour and interactive floor plan technology company Planitar.
Its Australian businesses include realestate.com.au, realcommercial.com.au, Flatmates.com.au, Mortgage Choice, PropTrack, Campaign Agent and Realtair.
While the scale and structure of the Distilled investment are very different from the attempted Rightmove acquisition, the deal again takes REA into an overseas property portal market where it sees opportunities to apply capabilities developed through its Australian operations.
This time, rather than buying the entire business, REA will sit alongside Distilled’s existing owners while gaining exposure to market-leading portal businesses on both sides of the Irish border.
The proposed transaction remains subject to regulatory approvals and other customary conditions and is expected to be completed before the end of calendar 2026.