REA halts Dynamic Methods deal

The online property listings has terminated talks to buy the forms provider and will focus on building its own business as the property market surges.

REA Group has ended talks to buy real estate forms provider Dynamic Methods, with the groups to now pursue their own growth strategies in the local market. Picture: David Clark

Online listings company REA Group has ended talks to buy real estate forms provider Dynamic Methods, with the groups to now pursue their own growth strategies.

The market leading REA had sought to acquire the smaller technology company, which manages forms for property deals across much of Australia, to round out its offering to agents.

However, the deal that was to be worth about $30m has been called off, with the transaction’s long time frame working against it being completed.

REA said in a statement that it had elected to terminate the transaction for commercial reasons, noting that the prolonged acquisition process had required it to reassess the commercial benefits of the transaction.

The online giant is riding the healthy home sales market and is building out other platforms, like its PropTrack research arm. It said it continued to believe that Dynamic Methods provided an excellent forms platform and wished it success in the future.

The transaction was subject to an Australian Competition & Consumer Commission review, and the company said it had now advised the competition regulator that the transaction would not be proceeding.

The Dynamic Methods platform would have added to the suite of services which REA offers to agents, which includes tools to track their campaigns and to better target both vendors and buyers.

REA is the top digital real estate advertising platform through realestate.com.au and realcommercial.com.au and Dynamic Methods is the largest supplier of digital real estate forms, with most real estate agents, except in Victoria, using its products.

REA said it was still confident that the proposed acquisition would not have lessened competition. The company said it would continue to focus on creating increasing value for its customers through investing in products that streamline workflows, and supporting consumers on their property journey.

REA last month called out improving home listings in Sydney and Melbourne as it delivered a 22 per cent lift in first half net profit to $250m.

The group said that Australia’s residential property market remains healthy, with national listings growth driven by the two capitals, while other markets were more subdued, although strong selling conditions have since spread to more markets.