Australia's Domain Holdings to recommend CoStar's $1.8 billion buyout bid

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Domain to support deal, pending superior offers and expert approval

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CoStar's ( CSGP ) final offer at A$4.43/share

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Domain down 2.3%

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By Roshan Thomas and Sneha Kumar

March 31 (Reuters) - Australia's Domain Holdings said on Monday it would recommend its shareholders to vote in favour of U.S. property data group CoStar's ( CSGP ) takeover approach that values the real estate classifieds firm at A$2.80 billion ($1.76 billion).

Shares of Domain slipped as much as 2.3% to A$4.230, as of 0218 GMT.

Domain's directors said they planned to unanimously support the scheme of arrangement, provided that no superior proposal emerges and an independent expert endorses the deal.

Domain Holdings granted CoStar ( CSGP ) exclusive due diligence access for the U.S.-based group's revised buyout proposal.

CoStar ( CSGP ) 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.

CoStar ( CSGP ) 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.

Domain's largest shareholder, Nine Entertainment ( NNMTF ), had recently confirmed that it was in talks to sell its 60% stake it owned in Domain.

Shares of Nine Entertainment ( NNMTF ) were down 2.4% to A$1.508, their lowest level since February 20.

If the deal is successful, it would mark CoStar's ( CSGP ) first venture into the Australian market and could transform the landscape in a sector where listing volumes had declined due to high living costs slowing the once-booming housing market, though conditions are improving as interest rates are lowered. ($1 = 1.5918 Australian dollars) (Reporting by Sneha Kumar and Roshan Thomas in Bengaluru; Editing by Chris Reese and Rashmi Aich)