Private equity firms not interested in Domain

Former REA boss Greg Ellis has been appointed interim chief executive at Domain. Picture: Nikki Short

The $1.7bn Domain Group is said to have been shopped to private equity firms far and wide to test their interest in taking a stake in the business.

None of them is keen, sources say.

One interesting name that was mentioned among the possible suitors is John Wylie’s Tanarra, which is also a shareholder in Nine Entertainment, Domain’s majority shareholder.

Tanarra sources have denied that it considered a purchase of the online real estate group, of which Nine Entertainment owns a 60 per cent stake, despite speculation suggesting otherwise.

The understanding is that the successful investor would have capacity to embark on such a deal should it be eager to do so.

Mr Wylie has strong connections to Victorian super­annuation fund investors who could back a Tanarra-led transaction.

Two private equity firms that have weighed a possible buyout of the country’s second largest online real estate group are TPG Capital and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts.

Meanwhile, the company is yet to appoint a chief executive.

Greg Ellis, the former boss of Domain’s rival REA Group, has been appointed in the interim while a search for a permanent chief executive remains on foot.  

On Thursday, Domain delivered a 46 per cent lift in its net profit for the first six months of the financial year to $35.7m on the back of continued listings growth as it strengthens its collaboration with Nine, the free-to-air ­broadcaster and publisher of The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Australian Financial Review.

Assisting with matters related to Domain is Nine’s house investment bank Jefferies, which is said to have been testing a partial privatisation that would take Domain off the listed market to boost performance behind closed doors, without scrutiny.