Feb. 21 (Bloomberg) -- Apollo Management LP, the U.S. buyout firm run by Leon Black, offered about 1 billion pounds ($2 billion) for Countrywide Plc, less than a month after shareholders of the U.K.'s largest residential real estate broker blocked another private-equity bid.

The cash-and-stock offer values each Countrywide share at about 590 pence, New York-based Apollo said today in a statement. That's 3.7 percent more than the failed bid by 3i Group Plc and 26 percent above the price Sept. 13, the day before 3i first said it was interested in buying Countrywide.

``Our belief that the Countrywide business is undervalued has not substantially changed,'' said Euan Stirling, an investment director at Standard Life Investments in Edinburgh, in a statement. Standard Life, owner of 3.2 percent of Countrywide, was one of three investors that publicly rebuffed 3i's offer.

In December, Apollo agreed to buy Realogy Corp., the biggest residential real estate brokerage in the U.S., for about $9 billion, including assumed debt. The acquisition of Countrywide would give Apollo 1,200 outlets throughout the U.K. and the country's largest valuations and property surveying business.

Counter Bid?

3i's bid, backed by Countrywide's management, was blocked by shareholders who said it was too low. At the time, 3i said it would only offer more if a rival bid was made for Countrywide. Apollo said it is now trying to persuade the property broker's biggest shareholders to support its offer, the U.S. firm said.

Shares of Countrywide fell 13 pence, or 2.2 percent, to 568.5 pence in London. The stock has climbed 41 percent in the past six months, raising the Witham-based company's market value to 971 million pounds.

Apollo offered 505 pence in cash for each Countrywide share. In addition it offered about one share of Rightmove Plc for every six Countrywide shares already owned, adding 85 pence per Countrywide share to its offer, based on yesterday's closing price.

Countrywide owns 21.5 percent of Rightmove, operator of the U.K.'s biggest real-estate Web site. Rightmove's shares fell 24.25 pence, or 4.7 percent, to 488 pence today.

No one at Countrywide was immediately available to comment on whether the company is backing Apollo's offer. Peter Gordon, the partner at 3i who led the firm's offer for Countrywide, declined to comment today. 3i is Europe's largest publicly traded buyout firm.

Realogy Comparisons

The cash part of Apollo's indicative offer is 25.5 million pounds higher than 3i's bid. The U.S. firm also offered investors the option of retaining their shares in Countrywide as a buyout partner.

Comparisons with the Realogy takeover lay behind the refusal by some Countrywide shareholders to approve 3i's offer. David Samra, a fund manager at San Francisco-based Artisan Partners LP, last month said Countrywide should be valued 40 percent higher than that bid, in line with the terms of the Realogy purchase.

Samra said Countrywide may increase earnings as it stems losses at the unit that handles the transfer of property deeds. The U.K. company could also generate more profit from its valuation arm and the Bradford & Bingley Plc real estate agency it acquired in 2004.

Rising house prices in the U.K., chiefly in London and southeast England, mask a drop in the number of purchases after two interest rate increases last year by the Bank of England made home ownership less affordable for more Britons.

Unsuccessful Offers

Countrywide's leasing and home sales business generated 54 percent of first-half revenue and contributed 51 percent of the company's 43.9 million-pound operating profit in that period.

Countrywide in July said it might be up for sale after the U.K. government scrapped plans to require anyone selling a home to provide a report on its condition to potential buyers, denying agents a new source of revenue.

The bid comes as the world's biggest buyout firms, preparing takeovers worth $30 billion in the U.S., are failing to buy companies a 10th of that size in the U.K., where money managers have held out for higher prices. In addition to 3i's failed bid for Countrywide, companies from record producer EMI Group Plc to broadcaster ITV Plc have spurned bids.

Amid a record year for takeovers by private equity firms globally in 2006, buyouts of publicly traded British companies dropped 29 percent to 5.1 billion pounds as shareholders held out for better offers, according to a survey by the Nottingham, England-based Centre for Management Buy-out Research.

Apollo was advised by Deutsche Bank AG, Goldman Sachs International and Credit Suisse. Hawkpoint, Panmure Gordon and Hoare Govett are acting for Countrywide.

To contact the reporters on this story: Simon Packard in London at packard@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: February 21, 2007 12:07 EST