The interim chief executive of Nine Entertainment, Matt Stanton, met CoStar founder Andy Florance just weeks before the $50 billion US real estate conglomerate lobbed a full-scale takeover bid for Nine’s most valuable asset, Domain.

While staying with former federal treasurer Joe Hockey at his Hunters Hill mansion in Sydney over the Christmas break, Florance discussed opportunities involving the Nasdaq-listed CoStar and Domain, which is Australia’s second-largest online property classifieds platform and 60 per cent owned by Nine.