Australia's Domain grants due diligence access to CoStar for $1.8 billion buyout bid
March 31 (Reuters) - Australia's Domain Holdings (DHG.AX), opens new tab said on Monday it has granted CoStar (CSGP.O), opens new tab exclusive due diligence access for the U.S. property data group's revised buyout proposal which values the real estate classifieds firm at A$2.80 billion ($1.76 billion).
CoStar sweetened its offer to A$4.43 per share on a "best and final" basis last week, a 5.5% premium to its initial proposal of A$4.20.
The Reuters Tariff Watch newsletter is your daily guide to the latest global trade and tariff news. Sign up here.
CoStar will be granted access to a virtual data room, Domain said in a statement, adding the exclusivity period will expire in four weeks unless extended by a further two weeks.
The target company confirms the intentions of its board members to unanimously recommend voting in favour of the proposal.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Reuters
2 hours ago
- Reuters
China's imports of major commodities hiccup in May
LAUNCESTON, Australia, June 9 (Reuters) - China's imports of major commodities lost momentum in May, with crude oil, coal, iron ore and copper all recording declines amid concerns about growth in the world's second-biggest economy. Only imports of natural gas showed any improvement, with May's 10.11 million metric tons slightly ahead of the 9.67 million in April, although they were still down 11% from a year earlier, according to customs data released on Tuesday. Crude oil arrivals dropped to 10.97 million barrels per day (bpd) in May, down 6.2% from April's 11.69 million bpd and also below the 12.1 million bpd recorded for March, which was the strongest month since August 2023. Iron ore imports slipped to 98.13 million tons in May from 103.14 million tons in April, and were also weaker than the 102.03 million from May last year. Imports of all grades of coal were 36.04 million tons in May, down 4.7% from April's 37.83 million tons and 17.8% weaker than the 42.82 million tons in May 2024. Unwrought copper imports were 427,000 tons in May, down 2.5% from the 438,000 tons in April and also below the 514,000 tons from the same month a year earlier. On the surface the decline in imports of major commodities looks ominous for China as the world's biggest buyer of natural resources faces an ongoing trade war with the United States and still sluggish growth at home, especially in the key residential construction sector. But there is always a risk of reading too much into monthly numbers, which can be quite volatile and are also often driven by price moves during the period when cargoes were arranged. Crude oil is a good example of this. China's imports were weak in January and February, with cargoes delivered in these two months having been bought against a backdrop of rising prices, with benchmark Brent futures rallying from early December to a peak of $82.63 a barrel on Jan. 15. But oil prices started sliding thereafter, with Brent dropping to a low of $58.40 a barrel by April 9. Therefore, the rebound in China's crude imports in March and April came amid a declining price trend when the cargoes would have been bought. However, May cargoes would have been arranged when prices were once again trending higher. It's also worth noting that China's imports of Russian and Iranian crude have also been volatile in recent months, dropping as new U.S. sanctions on vessels were imposed and then recovering as traders worked out ways around the measures. This pattern seems likely to have continued, with commodity analysts Kpler estimating China's imports of Iranian oil at 743,500 bpd in May, but also forecasting a sharp rise to 1.48 million bpd in June. Iron ore imports may also have been impacted by price moves, with the price rising modestly over April, the time when most May-arriving cargoes would have been booked. The Singapore Exchange contract reached a recent high of $101.80 a ton on May 14, and has since moderated to end at $96.26 on June 6. While the price moves are modest, the small decline may encourage some buying by China's steel mills, especially given the prevailing view that Beijing will launch new stimulus efforts in coming weeks to boost the economy. Copper imports are also likely reflecting dynamics on global markets rather than the domestic situation in China. China's imports have trended weaker and are now down 6.7% for the first five months of 2025 compared to the same period last year. But physical copper has been shifting to the United States as market players expect President Donald Trump to impose a tariff on imports of the industrial metal. U.S. demand has bolstered the premium of copper for delivery to the United States, and drawn metal away from China. While the London price has been volatile and driven by news reports on what Trump may or may not do, the trend has been to higher prices, with an increase from an April 9 low of $8,105 a ton to $9,701 in early Asian trade on Monday. Coal is the major commodity where China's domestic prices and supply have driven weakness in imports, with strong production and soft local prices cutting the need for imports. Seaborne thermal coal prices have dropped to four-year lows in response, and there are some early signs that demand is picking up, but it will likely take further declines to spark any meaningful interest in boosting imports. Enjoying this column? Check out Reuters Open Interest (ROI), your essential new source for global financial commentary. ROI delivers thought-provoking, data-driven analysis of everything from swap rates to soybeans. Markets are moving faster than ever. ROI can help you keep up. Follow ROI on LinkedIn, opens new tab and X, opens new tab. (The views expressed here are those of the author, a columnist for Reuters.)
Reuters
6 hours ago
- Reuters
China's consumer prices extend decline for fourth month in May
BEIJING, June 9 (Reuters) - China's consumer prices fell for a fourth straight month in May while producer deflation deepened, as the economy faces headwinds from trade tensions and a prolonged housing downturn. The consumer price index dipped 0.1% last month from a year earlier, versus a 0.1% drop in April, National Bureau of Statistics data showed on Monday, slightly better than a Reuters poll forecast of a 0.2% decline. CPI slid 0.2% on a monthly basis, compared with a 0.1% increase in April, and matched economists' predictions of a 0.2% decline. The producer price index was down 3.3% in May from a year earlier, worse than a 2.7% decline in April and the deepest contraction in 22 months. That compared with an estimated 3.2% fall in a Reuters poll.
Powys County Times
7 hours ago
- Powys County Times
‘Significant challenges' in use of AI within UK screen sector
The use of artificial intelligence (AI) within the UK screen sector raises 'significant legal, ethical, and practical challenges' such as the use of copyrighted material being used without the permission of the rights holders, a report has warned. Other issues highlighted by the British Film Institute (BFI) report include the safeguarding of human creative control, the fear of jobs being lost as positions are replaced through the use of AI, and investment in training in new skills. High energy consumption and carbon emissions, and the risks to creative content around biased data, are also described as being of concern. The report, which has been carried out in partnership with CoSTAR universities Goldsmiths, Loughborough and Edinburgh, analyses how the screen sector is using and experimenting with rapidly evolving generative AI technologies. It warned that the 'primary issue' was the use of copyrighted material – such as hundreds of thousands of film and TV scripts – in the training of generative AI models, without payment or the permission of rights-holders. 'This practice threatens the fundamental economics of the screen sector if it devalues intellectual property creation and squeezes out original creators,' the report said. But it added that the UK's strong foundation in creative technology – as it is home to more than 13,000 creative technology companies – means that the UK screen sector is well positioned to adapt to the technological shift. The report – titled AI in the Screen Sector: Perspectives and Paths Forward – said generative AI promises to democratise and revolutionise the industry, with the BBC, for example, piloting AI initiatives. Meanwhile, projects such as the Charismatic consortium, which is backed by Channel 4 and Aardman Animations, aim to make AI tools accessible to creators regardless of their budget or experience. It said this could empower a new wave of British creators to produce high-quality content with modest resources, though concerns about copyright and ethical use remain significant barriers to full adoption. The report sets out nine key recommendations it suggests should be addressed within the next three years to enable the UK screen sector to thrive in using AI. These include establishing the UK as a world-leading market of IP licensing for AI training, and embedding sustainability standards to reduce AI's carbon footprint. It also calls for structures and interventions to pool knowledge, develop workforce skills and target investments in the UK's creative technology sector, while it urges support for independent creators through accessible tools, funding and ethical AI products. The BFI's director of research and innovation, Rishi Coupland, said: 'AI has long been an established part of the screen sector's creative toolkit, most recently seen in the post-production of the Oscar-winning The Brutalist, and its rapid advancement is attracting multimillion investments in technology innovator applications. 'However, our report comes at a critical time and shows how generative AI presents an inflection point for the sector and, as a sector, we need to act quickly on a number of key strategic fronts. 'Whilst it offers significant opportunities for the screen sector such as speeding up production workflows, democratising content creation and empowering new voices, it could also erode traditional business models, displace skilled workers, and undermine public trust in screen content. 'The report's recommendations provide a roadmap to how we can ensure that the UK's world-leading film, TV, video games and VFX industries continue to thrive by making best use of AI technologies to bring their creativity, innovations and storytelling to screens around the globe.' Professor Jonny Freeman, director of CoSTAR Foresight Lab, said: 'This latest CoSTAR Foresight Lab report, prepared by the BFI, navigates the complex landscape of AI in the screen sector by carefully weighing both its transformative opportunities and the significant challenges it presents. 'The report acknowledges that while AI offers powerful tools to enhance creativity, efficiency, and competitiveness across every stage of the production workflow – from script development and pre-production planning, through on-set production, to post-production and distribution – it also raises urgent questions around skills, workforce adaptation, ethics, and sector sustainability.' CoSTAR is a £75.6 million national network of laboratories that are developing new technology to maintain the UK's world-leading position in gaming, TV, film, performance, and digital entertainment. Last month stars including Sir Elton John, Sir Paul McCartney and Sir Ian McKellen, wrote a joint letter to Sir Keir Starmer, urging the Prime Minister to introduce safeguards against work being plundered for free.
