Why rightmove should acquire propertyfinder

Times are tough in the UK market at the moment and it seems to me that the best value creating play would be a merger of rightmove and propertyfinder and therefore increase the gap between rightmove and the rest of the market.

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Will Networks Take on Rightmove in the UK?

Over the last few months we have seen the rise of the “Network” in the UK - in particular the Propertyfinder Network and more recently The Digital Property Group (TDPG) from DMGT. 

A network is a group of sites that, in total, reach a broader UV base than a single site.  In fact, in the materials i was sent by The Digital Property Group, they claimed that “the gap between TDPG and Rightmove stands at just 355k unique users”. 

So what makes up the Propertyfinder Network and The Digital Property Group.  The Propertyfinder Network is made up of the sites owned by Propertyfinder - propertyfinder.com, ukpropertyshop.co.uk and hotproperty.co.uk.  The Digital Property Group is made up of the property sites owned by DMGT - findaproperty.com, primelocation.com, findmeanewhome.com and homesandproperty.co.uk.

As a network, both TDPG and Propertyfinder are much closer to rightmove.co.uk than any of their component sites.

	Total Unique Visitors (000)
RIGHTMOVE.CO.UK	2,400
The Digital Property Group	2,045
Propertyfinder Network	1,501

 

However the real question is, are these “networks” a real threat to rightmove.co.uk or are they just another marketing spin on the numbers to make the gap between rightmove.co.uk and the rest look smaller than it really is?

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