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Domain pursuer CoStar acquires Homes.com.au

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Original article by Zoe Samios
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 17 : 4-Jun-25

Sources have indicated that US-based CoStar has struck a deal to acquire the Homes.com.au domain name for $22.8m. CoStar, which is seeking to buy property listings group Domain Holdings for $3bn, already owns the Homes.com domain in the US and has spent more than $US1bn on a marketing campaign for the brand. Its deal to acquire Homes.com.au could indicate that CoStar will consider rebranding Domain if shareholders approve the deal in August. CoStar’s founder and CEO Andy Florance says that acquiring the Homes.com.au domain will give his company a range of options regarding how it positions itself in the Australian market.

CORPORATES
COSTAR GROUP INCORPORATED, HOMES.COM.AU, DOMAIN HOLDINGS AUSTRALIA LIMITED – ASX DHA, HOMES.COM

Labor spends more than Coalition on election TV ads but Palmer’s Trumpet of Patriots leads YouTube outlay

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Original article by Amanda Meade, Henry Belot
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 24-Apr-25

Data shows that Labor has spent $5.8m on free-to-air and subscription TV advertising so far during the federal election campaign, while Clive Palmer’s Trumpet of Patriots party has spend $5.6m. In contrast, the Coalition has spent just $4.2m on broadcast TV advertising to date. The major political parties have also embraced social media, with Labor having spent nearly $700,000 to advertise on Facebook and Instagram since the election began; the Liberal Party has in turn spent $385,266 on these two platforms. Meanwhile, the Coalition has spent $2.3m on YouTube advertising, while Labor has spent $2m and Trumpet of Patriots has spent $4m.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, TRUMPET OF PATRIOTS

Catalano and Waislitz take fight to Seek in regional Australia

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Original article by Sam Buckingham-Jones
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 16 : 7-Feb-24

Australian Community Media’s owners Antony Catalano and Alex Waislitz will launch a new job listings website in partnership with SpotJobs’ co-founder Lewis Romano. ViewJobs is slated to be launched in early March, and will focus on job vacancies in regional areas. Romano says most of the existing sites do not necessarily cater to the requirements of regional and rural employers; he notes that there has been five per cent growth in regional job advertisements in recent months, while job ads in metropolitan areas have fallen by 10 per cent. ACM will use its portfolio of regional newspapers to promote ViewJobs, which is jointly owned by Catalano and Romano.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN COMMUNITY MEDIA PTY LTD, SPOTJOBS PTY LTD, VIEWJOBS

Domain portal a business in trouble with declining market share, Catalano says

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Original article by Cameron England
The Australian – Page: 17 : 15-Nov-23

Anthony Catalano’s View Media Group operates the view.com.au real estate listings business. Catalano sees Domain as View Media’s main rival, rather than REA Group’s realestate.com.au portal. He says the real estate sector is clearly moving towards a ‘one-portal market’ in the same way that employment and car sales are now largely dominated by one portal. Catalano adds that instead of trying to compete with REA, View Media is aiming to ‘own a consumer’ across different products, such as mortgages and insurance. He also believes that View Media poses a very serious threat to Domain; he is a former CEO of Domain.

CORPORATES
VIEW MEDIA GROUP PTY LTD, VIEW.COM.AU, DOMAIN HOLDINGS AUSTRALIA LIMITED – ASX DHA, REA GROUP LIMITED – ASX REA, REALESTATE.COM.AU

KIIS FM boss plays down Seven West tie-up talk

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Original article by Zoe Samios
The Age – Page: Online : 22-Feb-23

Listed media group HT&E has posted a statutory loss of $176.3m for calendar 2022. The result was marred by a $249.9m impairment charge on the value of its radio business. However, underlying EBITDA and revenue both rose by 53 per cent, to $91.8m and $344.9m respectively. There has been recent media speculation of a potential merger with Seven West Media, but HT&E CEO Ciaran Davis says he has not heard from Seven. He adds that HT&E would be an "absolute prime target" in the event of further consolidation in the media sector. Davis has also indicated that HT&E may look at divesting its Hong Kong-based Cody outdoor advertising firm later in 2023.

CORPORATES
HT&E LIMITED – ASX HT1, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, CODY

Nine’s Domain caught in cyber scam

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Original article by Sophie Elsworth
The Australian – Page: 3 : 21-May-21

Online real estate portal Domain has increased its security controls in the wake of a cyber-attack. CEO Jason Pellegrino has informed Domain users that their personal information may have been stolen in the phishing attack, which targeted people who inquired about rental properties that had been advertised on Domain. Nine Entertainment Company, which has a 60 per cent stake in Domain, has confirmed that the cyber attack is not related one which disrupted its own operations in March

CORPORATES
DOMAIN HOLDINGS AUSTRALIA LIMITED – ASX DHA, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC

HT&E radio, digital and outdoor advertising business going strong in coronavirus environment

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Original article by Leo Shanahan
The Australian – Page: Online : 8-May-20

HT&E has one of the strongest balance sheets in the Australian media sector, according to chairman Hamish McLennan. He noted at the radio, digital and outdoor advertising group’s AGM that it has no undrawn debt and it boasted net cash of $111m at the end of 2019. Meanwhile, CEO Ciaran Davis said the newly-launched Dynamic Audio targeted digital advertising system will enable HT&E’s Australian Radio Network to deliver real-time, personalised advertising to radio audiences.

CORPORATES
HT&E LIMITED – ASX HT1, AUSTRALIAN RADIO NETWORK PTY LTD

ACCC approves eBay car ads deal

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Original article by Lilly Vitorovich
The Australian – Page: 15 : 1-May-20

The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission has approved eBay’s purchase of Cox Automotive Media Solutions, which owns the Carsguide and Autotrader websites. The transaction, which was announced in December, will see eBay combine its Gumtree Australia operations with those of Cox Automotive Media. The ACCC noted that Carsales and Facebook Marketplace both provide significant competition to the Gumtree and Cox Media businesses.

CORPORATES
EBAY AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND PTY LTD, EBAY INCORPORATED, CARSGUIDE, AUTOTRADER, COX AUTOMOTIVE MEDIA SOLUTIONS, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, GUMTREE.COM AUSTRALIA PTY LTD

Cat strikes back at weak Domain

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Original article by Leo Shanahan
The Australian – Page: 24 & 26 : 3-Feb-20

Australian Community Newspapers’ owners Antony Catalano and Alex Waislitz have paid about $10m for a 33 per cent stake in Realestateview.com.au. Catalano will join the board of the unlisted classified advertising group. Realestateview.com.au CEO Toby Balazs notes that combining its property listings with ACN’s portfolio of regional newspapers means it will have a digital audience of 5.4 million. Catalano expects the new venture to be a serious rival to Domain, although he concedes that Realstate.com.au is likely to remain the leading player in the sector.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN COMMUNITY MEDIA, REALESTATEVIEW.COM.AU LIMITED, DOMAIN HOLDINGS AUSTRALIA LIMITED – ASX DHA, REALESTATE.COM.AU, REA GROUP LIMITED – ASX REA, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC

Nine chases NZ media assets in QMS carve-up

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Original article by Bridget Carter, Lilly Vitorovich
The Australian – Page: 19 : 30-Oct-19

QMS Media’s board has recommended that shareholders accept a cash offer of $1.22 per share from Quadrant Private Equity, in the latest deal in Australia’s outdoor advertising sector. Meanwhile, Nine Entertainment Company has declined to comment on speculation that it could be interested in buying some of QMS’s assets in New Zealand, including radio stations and its outdoor advertising business. QMS has a 40 per cent stake in MediaWorks, which owns New Zealand TV stations such as TV3 and Bravo, and radio stations such as Magic and The Edge.

CORPORATES
QMS MEDIA LIMITED – ASX QMS, QUADRANT PRIVATE EQUITY PTY LTD, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, MEDIAWORKS (NZ) LIMITED, TV3 NETWORK LIMITED, BRAVO, MAGIC, THE EDGE, OAKTREE CAPITAL MANAGEMENT LLC, KKR AND COMPANY LP, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED, NZME LIMITED – ASX NZM, STUFF LIMITED, JC DECAUX SA, APN OUTDOOR GROUP LIMITED, ADSHEL PTY LTD, HT&E LIMITED – ASX HT1