Fairfax Media will push ahead with plans to spin off its lucrative property portal Domain after two suitors withdrew their takeover interests in the company.
The media group, which owns metro newspapers and radio networks, also announced that its overall revenue had fallen six per cent in the second half of the financial year.
Unimpressed investors triggered a sharp fall in Fairfax's shares which were down more than 10 per cent to 98.75 cents at 1523 AEST - their lowest level since mid-March.
Fairfax said private equity groups TPG and Hellman & Friedman have pulled out of making formal bids for the media company due to the group's complex business model.
Chairman Nick Falloon said that after receiving a letter from Hellman & Friedman on Friday saying it would not make a bid for the media business, Fairfax had talked with TPG over the weekend.
"It appeared that the complication of our business was such that they (TPG) didn't want to bid for the whole business. That's the reading we got from that," Mr Falloon said during an analyst briefing on Monday morning.
He said the company will now push ahead with its original plan, made before the unsolicited takeover bids, to spin off its property classifieds business Domain into a separate ASX-listed entity.
Fairfax's spin-off plan, as announced in February, includes holding onto between 60 and 70 per cent of Domain.
Mr Falloon said the company has made progress with regulatory approvals and is on track to separate Domain by the end of 2017, with a progress update at its full-year results on August 16.
Domain's second-half revenue was up 10 per cent with revenue in its digital business up 22 per cent, the company said.
While revenue from the group's print and online metro news division dropped by about 12 per cent, its Australian community media business was off 11 per cent, its New Zealand media business declined by about four per cent and Macquarie Media was down five per cent.
Fairfax said it expects earnings of between $262 million and $266 million for the year to June 30, compared to $283.3 million in the prior year.
TPG and Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan Board made a bid for Fairfax in May, initially offering 95 cents a share and quickly increasing it to $1.20.
Rival suitor San Francisco-based investment fund Hellman & Friedman soon followed with an offer valued at between $1.225 and $1.25 a share, valuing Fairfax at up to $2.87 billion.
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