London | News Corporation chief executive Robert Thomson says it would have been foolhardy for REA to have paid more for its British real estate rival Rightmove after it walked away from a $12 billion takeover bid.

The Murdoch family-controlled media giant owns 61 per cent of REA, the largest property platform in Australia. Over the last month, it has made several takeover approaches for Rightmove, which is the dominant platform in the United Kingdom – but the offers have been repeatedly rebuffed.