Rightmove

History

Rightmove was incorporated on 16 May 2000 and it launched its website, rightmove.co.uk, in July 2000. Rightmove's founding shareholders were Countrywide plc, Halifax, Royal & Sun Alliance and Connells.

Rightmove was first listed on the London Stock Exchange on 15 March 2006 at which time it became Rightmove plc.

In 2007 Rightmove bought 67% of Holiday Lettings Limited. In May 2008, HBOS, one of the founding investors, sold its stake in Rightmove. According to Forbes, Rightmove operates on a two-sided model which serves a vast "audience" for property listings on one side and 20,000 advertisers of available properties on the other side.

Peter Brooks-Johnson, who joined Rightmove in 2006, became chief operating officer in 2013 and was promoted to chief executive officer in 2017.

In May 2016, Rightmove was ranked as the world’s most innovative company by Forbes. In August 2016, the company acquired The Outside View, a London based predictive analytics company.

In June 2018, the Rightmove tenant Passport was launched.

In July 2019, the company acquired Van Mildert, which provides tenant referencing services and rent guarantee insurance products.

In November 2019, the company announced the appointment of Andrew Fisher as its Chairman, succeeding Scott Forbes who was in the role for over 14 years.

Johan Svanström, a former chief executive of travel booking website Expedia and McDonald's became chief executive officer in February 2023. His appointment followed the resignation of Peter Brooks-Johnson in May 2022.

In September 2024, Rightmove's board rejected an informal £5.6 billion takeover offer from the REA Group, describing it as opportunistic and stating that it undervalued the company. REA Group had offered 705p per share, representing a 27% premium. The offer came as Rightmove faced difficulties in the property market and aligned with the Murdoch family’s efforts to expand beyond traditional media. REA Group abandoned its takeover plan without making a formal offer.

Operations

Rightmove makes money from listing estate agents on its website and offering additional advertising products to those agents. The ads are visible to users who search for the area chosen by the estate agent. Individuals selling property privately (i.e. directly without an agent) are prohibited from advertising on the site. Each month, Rightmove release a House Price Index, illustrating any changes in the asking prices of houses throughout England and Wales.

References

References

1. (2007-11-14). "RIGHTMOVE PLC overview - Find and update company information - GOV.UK".
2. "Preliminary Results 2024". Rightmove.
3. (23 February 2018). "Rightmove profits rise as more agents move their homes online – UK's largest property listings website boosts customer count and number of listings". The Financial Times.
4. (9 May 2022). "Rightmove shares crash as CEO to step down after 16 years". Yahoo News.
5. The Financial Times. (10 March 2006). "Pricing of IPO values Company at £425m".
6. (28 March 2007). "Rightmove acquires majority stake in holidaylettings.co.uk". Mortgage Strategy.
7. Gregersen, Hal. "Behind Rightmove's Extraordinary Growth". Forbes.
8. (9 May 2022). "Rightmove shares wobble as CEO reveals exit plan". The Negotiator.
9. (26 May 2016). "Top 25 Most Innovative Growth Companies 2016". Forbes.
10. (22 Aug 2016). "Rightmove Acquires The Outside View". UK Business Angels Association.
11. (14 June 2018). "Rightmove unveils 'Rent Ready Passport' to help pre-qualify tenants for agents". Property Industry Eye.
12. (26 Jul 2019). "Property website Rightmove makes £16m acquisition". Business Cloud.
13. (2019-11-22). "Rightmove taps ex-Shazam boss Andrew Fisher as its new chairman". Reuters.
14. "Rightmove appoints former Shazam boss Andrew Fisher as new chairman". belfasttelegraph.
15. (23 October 2022). "Rightmove looks outside property sector for new CEO".
16. Silva, Marc da. (2022-10-21). "EYE NEWSFLASH: Rightmove appoints new CEO".
17. Koilparambil, Aby Jose. (9 May 2022). "Rightmove CEO to leave next year, shares fall".
18. Warrington, James. (11 September 2024). "Rightmove rejects Murdochs' 'opportunistic' £5.6bn takeover bid".
19. [https://www.afr.com/technology/rea-target-rightmove-defiant-in-face-of-12b-fourth-bid-20240930-p5keq5 REA abandons $12b pursuit of Britain’s Rightmove] ''[[Australian Financial Review]]'' 30 September 2024
20. Rightmove. "House Price Index". rightmove.co.uk.