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PropertyGuru Group Limited

From EverybodyWiki Bios & Wiki



PropertyGuru Group Limited
Private[1]
ISIN🆔
Industry
Founded 📆2006[1]
Founders 👔
  • Steve Melhuish
  • Jani Rautiainen
Headquarters 🏙️Singapore
Area served 🗺️
Key people
Hari Krishnan (CEO)
Revenue🤑 S$82.1 million (2020)[2]
-S$11.8 million (2020)[3]
Members
Number of employees
1400 (July 2021)[4]
🌐 Website[Lua error in Module:WikidataIB at line 665: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). ] 
📇 Address
📞 telephone

PropertyGuru Group Limited is the largest online real estate platform and proptech company in Southeast Asia.[5][6] It was founded in Singapore and now offers marketplaces in Singapore, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand.[6] On these websites, users search for properties to buy or rent and see images and floor plans.[7] The company also offers financial technology tools, access to mortgages and home insurance, and other real-estate-related services.[8][9]

History[edit]

Founding[edit]

British-born Steve Melhuish founded PropertyGuru in 2006 after having a difficult time finding a home in Singapore, which had no online property listings at the time.[5] Real estate was instead found in newspapers ads that only featured basic information.[7] He and co-founder Jani Rautiainen launched PropertyGuru to make property hunting more transparent.[10] By 2011, the company had expanded to Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand.[11]

Leadership transition[edit]

In 2014, the founders decided to spend more time with their families and informed the board they would plan a succession.[10] Hari Krishnan, formerly LinkedIn’s Vice President & Managing Director for the Asia Pacific region,[12] formally took over as CEO in 2016. The founders remained as board members and advisors.[13] The hand-over process was completed by January 2018, after which Melhuish worked part-time focusing on strategy, mergers and acquisitions, and client management.[10] In 2019, Jani Rautiainen retired from the board but continued to own shares.[14]

Australia IPO[edit]

In 2019, PropertyGuru planned to raise up to A$400 million through an IPO on the Australian Securities Exchange,[15] which it would use for growth and acquisitions.[13] Though the company did not operate in Australia, it chose to list here because competitors Domain and REA Group were traded on the Sydney-based exchange.[16] PropertyGuru and its brokers indicated a share price of A$3.70 to A$4.50,[17] which would give the company a market value of up to A$1.36 billion.[18] At that time TPG Capital and KKR & Co. Inc. were the company’s largest investors and held nearly 58 per cent of the shares, but it was claimed they would not sell their shares and would have had their stakes diluted to 26 per cent and 23.3 per cent, respectively.[19]

Though PropertyGuru claimed institutional demand was oversubscribed,[16] they ultimately cancelled the IPO two days before listing[20] due to market volatility[21] and the expected valuation.[22] It was the fourth IPO cancelation on the Australian Securities Exchange that month and seen as part of a trending disconnect between private valuations and markets’ valuations of tech companies.[13]

REA Group acquisition[edit]

In May 2021, PropertyGuru sought to increase its exposure in Malaysia and Thailand,[22] by acquiring all the shares of REA Group’s entities in those countries: iProperty.com.my and Brickz.my in Malaysia and thinkofliving.com and Prakard.com in Thailand.[23] iProperty Malaysia and thinkofliving were to continue to operating separately from PropertyGuru’s existing marketplaces.[24]

REA, which is owned by billionaire Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp,[5] in return received an 18 per cent equity interest in PropertyGuru and a seat on its board. REA had to divest its 27 per cent stake in PropertyGuru’s rival 99 Group. It was the biggest acquisition in PropertyGuru’s 14-year history.[6][25]

Bridgetown 2 merger[edit]

In July 2021, PropertyGuru announced a merger with Bridgetown 2 Holdings, a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) backed by billionaires Richard Li and Peter Thiel.[26] After the deal was finalized, it would give a combined company an enterprise value of $1.35 billion and an equity value of $1.78 billion (about 18 times the expected 2021 sales and six times the projected 2025 sales).[27] The company would then list on the New York Stock Exchange.[28][29]

The deal was expected to raise $431 million in gross proceeds,[5][30] including $32 million from REA Group and a $100-million private investment in public equity (PIPE) from Baillie Gifford, Naya and Malaysian firm Akaris Global Partners.[31] These proceeds were to be used to accelerate growth and pursue M&A opportunities.[32] The additional private investment would give REA Group a 15.8 per cent stake in the company.[24] Long-time shareholders KKR & TPG Capital did no plan to sell their stakes into the public listing.[32]

The deal was scheduled to complete regulatory and stockholder approvals and close in early 2022, with an IPO shortly thereafter.[8][24]

Acquisitions[edit]

  • 2011: Invested 80 million Thai baht into DDProperty, a property website with 740,000 monthly users and 95,000 property listings at the time.[33]
  • 2015: Acquired ePropertyTrack, a company with software for marketing new property developments.[34] Service was rebranded as FastKey.
  • 2015: Acquired RumahDijual in Indonesia, making the country PropertyGuru’s second largest market after Singapore.[35]
  • 2016: Acquired Thailand-based Ensign Media in PropertyGuru’s largest deal to date. Gained Property Report magazine and the Asia Property Awards events.[7][36]
  • 2016: Made strategic investment in Batdongsan, a Vietnamese real estate website used by two million monthly users at the time. PropertyGuru gained two board seats.[37]
  • 2018: Wholly acquired Batdongsan.com.vn, which had over four million monthly users and 70 million monthly page views.[38]
  • 2020: Acquired Malaysia-based MyPropertyData, a company that provided analytics and insights to agents, banks, credit-rating agencies, developers and property buyers.[39]
  • 2021: Acquired iProperty Malaysia and Thinkofliving Thailand from REA Group.
  • 2021: Merged with Bridgetown 2 Holdings.[40]

Growth[edit]

In 2011, ProperyGuru had four million monthly users and 14,500 real estate agents using its website,[33] and by the following year, the company employed 240 people across Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia.[41] By 2015, these figures had grown to 11 million monthly users, 104 million page views – over half of which were on mobile devices[42] – and 300 employees.[43] That year, the company estimated its platforms facilitated S$14 billion in annual transactions, representing 10 per cent of all property transactions across its four markets.[35] After a number of acquisitions, the company attracted 24.5 million monthly users[44] and 45,000 real estate agents and employed over 1,200 people[10] in 2020. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, its platform saw an explosion of growth, rising to 37 million monthly visits,[28][45] 49,000 property agents and 2.8 million homes listed by 2021.[23][46] In 2021, they employed 1400 “gurus”.[4]

By 2016, PropertyGuru already held a 90 per cent market share in Singapore and was recognised as the leading property marketplace in the country.[7] By 2017, half of the city-state’s 28,000 licensed agents used the platform.[47] Its DDproperty brand was similarly dominant in Thailand, with about 50 per cent market share by 2019, attracting three million visits per month.[48] In 2020, PropertyGuru had a 57 per cent market share across the whole of Southeast Asia[49] and was the market leader in four out of five of the largest economies in the region.[50]

PropertyGuru was profitable and cash flow positive in 2018, with revenue growing more than 25 per cent year-on-year.[51] It was the first year the company was both EBITDA and free cash flow positive.[13][18] However, PropertyGuru reported a net loss after tax of S$43.5 million in the first half of 2019.[19] Over the four years leading up to COVID-19, the company reported revenue growth CAGR of about 25 per cent.[11][50] Claiming they benefited from a pandemic-induced property boom,[8] the company’s revenue reached $61.9 million in 2020, 57 per cent of which came from the Singapore market.[5]

Funding[edit]

PropertyGuru closed its initial S$1.8 million round of funding from angel investors in 2008.[11][43]

In 2012, the company raised S$55 million in funding[43] from investors including ImmobilienScout24, a subsidiary of Deutsche Telekom.[41]

In 2014, Emtek Group became a minority investor, and the two companies planned to collaborate on sales initiatives.[19]

TPG Capital, Emtek and Paul Bassat’s Square Peg Capital completed a S$175 million round of investment in 2015.[51] [52][53] Representatives from the three companies were expected to join PropertyGuru’s board.[42] At the time of the deal, ImmobilienScout24 exited to focus on its online classified businesses in Europe.[43] PropertyGuru planned to use the proceeds to entrench its presence in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia.[43] It was the second largest investment round in Southeast Asia that year.[7]

KKR & Co. Inc. led a S$200 million Series D round in 2018.[48][54] PropertyGuru planned to use the funds to buy Batdongsan.com.vn, in which it already owned shares.[51] KKR & Co. Inc. and TPG Capital now owned a combined 58 per cent of PropertyGuru.[20]

In 2020, following PropertyGuru’s cancelled its IPO in Australia, TPG & KKR completed another funding round, totalling S$300 million, to further accelerate growth in Malaysia and Vietnam.[21][55] Emtek divested its stake in the company.[19]

In 2021, PropertyGuru announced it would go public on the New York Stock Exchange and may consider a public listing in Asia in the future.[46]

Products and services[edit]

PropertyGuru has offers a variety of property-related products and services, including online marketplaces, fintech, and data software and solutions.[55]

The online property marketplaces match buyers and tenants with sellers and landlords, and provide marketing opportunities to agents and developers.[56] These marketplaces include PropertyGuru in Singapore; DDproperty.com, thinkofliving.com and Prakard.com in Thailand; Rumah.com and RumahDijual.com in Indonesia; PropertyGuru, iProperty.com.my and Brickz.my in Malaysia; and Batdongsan.com.vn in Vietnam.[23][48][55] In addition to its online property marketplaces, or websites, PropertyGuru provides 15 mobile apps to consumers and agents in these countries, which allow prospective buyers to geolocate properties and agents to remotely upload listings.[7] PropertyGuru’s software products are also available in mainland China.[8]

The company makes money by charging agents a subscription fee to use its platforms and selling them ads and data analytics tools.[57] However, higher quality listings rank higher, regardless of whether or not agents advertise.[7] The websites use proprietary artificial intelligence and machine learning to make personalized recommendations and ensure image quality.[11][48] In 2014, PropertyGuru launched SmartSelect, which gave users the ability to rate properties. It also integrated data from agents and government agencies to rank properties on a scale of 1 to 10.[58]

In 2015, PropertyGuru introduced FastKey, an end-to-end sales solution for property developers.[49] Agents can download floor plans of new developments and book units from the developer; while developers can directly receive down payments and route leads to agents.[59] In 2020, the company added a feature called StoryTeller, which provides 360-degree tours of projects under development, along with the surrounding neighbourhood.[49] The introduction of virtual tours coincided with pandemic-led lockdowns and social distancing.[44] By 2021, FastKey was used by more than 200 developers.[60]

PropertyGuru acquired the Asia Property Awards in 2016. The series, which names the best property developments in each territory, and throughout the region, covers 11 markets and is considered the most prestigious property-awards brand in Asia.[38][61]

In 2017, DBS Bank launched the world’s largest API development platform for funds transfers, and PropertyGuru was an initial partner.[62] It allowed users of PropertyGuru sites to check their eligibility for home loans and start the application process.[63] PropertyGuru subsequently launched its own Home Loan Pre-approval in 2019, which included free credit checks for mortgages.[11]

In 2020, the company launched an online mortgage marketplace, PropertyGuru Finance, in Singapore.[49] The service provides mortgage comparisons, refinancing and affordability calculators, instant in-principle approvals, and financing advice from banks.[64] PropertyGuru Finance generated over S$1 billion ($745 million) in loans in its first year.[5]

Controversies[edit]

Singapore housing discrimination[edit]

In 2014, the BBC found that more than 160 housing ads on PropertyGuru’s Singapore site showed racial bias against Indians and mainland Chinese renters. PropertyGuru said racial discrimination was “absolutely not” allowed by its guidelines and that the instances were not widespread, affecting less than 1 per cent of listings.[65]

99.co lawsuit[edit]

In 2017, PropertyGuru sued 99.co over the use of a third-party app that copied listings from PropertyGuru onto its rival’s site. PropertyGuru alleged that this breached a 2015 settlement agreement and infringed on its copyright by reproducing watermarked photographs.[47]

Property agents backlash[edit]

Singaporean property agents twice protested against price hikes on PropertyGuru’s platform. In 2017, more than 1,000 banded together and planned a boycott.[66] In 2019, price increases on subscriptions ranging from 11.3 to 16.6 per cent caused a backlash, though agents conceded they had little leverage given PropertyGuru’s dominance in the market. PropertyGuru said the fee hikes were in line with the platform’s new features and increased value provided to agents in the form of a rise in leads.[67]

References[edit]

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Corporate Profile of PROPERTYGURU PTE. LTD". SGP Business.
  2. ↑ Ho, Francine (1 March 2022). "PropertyGuru grows FY2021 revenue by 22.7per cent to S$100.7m". The Business Times.
  3. ↑ Tan, Felicia (16 July 2021). "PropertyGuru reports net loss of $11.8 mil, sees 7.2per cent lower revenue of $82.1 mil for FY2020". The Edge Singapore.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Transcript of PropertyGuru's Townhall Meeting". US Securities and Exchange Commission.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 Burgos, Jonathan (15 September 2021). "PropertyGuru To Ramp Up Fintech Services As Singapore Unicorn Prepares For SPAC Merger". Forbes.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Lee, Yoolim (31 May 2021). "PropertyGuru to Acquire REA Group's Malaysia, Thailand Units". Bloomberg.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 7.6 Lee, Yoolim (1 February 2016). "Meet the man who became Singapore's guru of property by accident". Bloomberg.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 "Despite current boom, there is still 'sufficient demand to drive growth': PropertyGuru CEO". CNBC. 26 July 2021.
  9. ↑ Ramchandani, Nisha (28 September 2021). "PropertyGuru to bet on fintech, S-E Asia markets as it gears up for SPAC listing". The Business Times.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 Laboutka, Tomas (15 October 2020). "How to plan a successful leadership succession at a start-up". McKinsey Digital.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 11.4 "Form 425 filing". US Securities and Exchange Commission.
  12. ↑ Lee, Terence (8 January 2013). "Hari Krishnan, LinkedIn's first Asia-Pacific employee, is now managing director for Asia-Pacific and Japan". Tech in Asia.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 Mokhtar, Faris (19 December 2019). "CEO of Singapore's PropertyGuru Vows a Comeback After IPO Flop". Bloomberg.
  14. ↑ "PropertyGuru said to plan up to $378.5m Australian IPO; board reshuffled". The Straits Times. 10 September 2019.
  15. ↑ "PropertyGuru plans up to A$400 mln Australian IPO". Reuters. 10 September 2019.
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 Murdoch, Scott (22 October 2019). "PropertyGuru leans towards lower end of IPO range". Reuters.
  17. ↑ Duran, Paulina (23 October 2019). "Private equity firms TPG, KKR cancel PropertyGuru's Australian IPO". Reuters.
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 "PropertyGuru's Australia IPO may raise up to $257 million". Reuters. 7 October 2019.
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 19.2 19.3 Haswidi, Andi (12 October 2020). "Singapore-based PropertyGuru's shareholding structure changed". Nikkei Asia.
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 Shane, Daniel (23 October 2019). "PropertyGuru adds to spate of cancelled Australia listings". Financial Times.
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 "Online realty firm PropertyGuru raises $220 million from KKR, TPG". Reuters. 2 September 2020.
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 Katje, Chris (8 June 2021). "Peter Thiel SPAC Bridgetown 2 Holdings Could Be Buying An Online Singapore Real Estate Company". Business Insider.
  23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 23.2 Loh, Dylan (31 May 2021). "Singapore's PropertyGuru to acquire Malaysia and Thailand rivals". Nikkei Asia.
  24. ↑ 24.0 24.1 24.2 "PropertyGuru completes acquisition of iProperty Malaysia and thinkofliving Thailand". US Securities and Exchange Commission.
  25. ↑ Baigorri, Manuel (19 July 2021). "PropertyGuru Near $1.8 Billion Merger With Peter Thiel SPAC". Bloomberg.
  26. ↑ Mukherjee, Andy (10 September 2021). "Singapore SPACs Need to Go Hunting in Bigger Markets". Washington Post.
  27. ↑ Sanchez, Luis (6 September 2021). "This Peter Thiel-Backed SPAC Is Taking PropertyGuru Public". The Motley Fool.
  28. ↑ 28.0 28.1 "PropertyGuru to go public in merger with Richard Li-backed SPAC". Nikkei Asia.
  29. ↑ Choudhury, Saheli Roy (8 August 2021). "Southeast Asia's tech start-ups could be valued at $1 trillion by 2025, venture capital firm predicts". CNBC.
  30. ↑ Kilgore, Tomi (23 July 2021). "PropertyGuru to go public through merger with SPAC, with the valuing company at $1.36 billion". MarketWatch.
  31. ↑ "Transcript of Hari V Krishnan on BFM 89.9 Radio Station". US Securities and Exchange Commission.
  32. ↑ 32.0 32.1 "Hari V Krishnan LinkedIn Post". US Securities and Exchange Commission.
  33. ↑ 33.0 33.1 "จับมือ DDProperty ทุ่ม 80 ล้านรุกอสังหาฯ ไทย". Thumbs Up. 25 July 2011.
  34. ↑ "PropertyGuru acquires ePropertyTrack for undisclosed sum". Digital News Asia. 9 July 2015.
  35. ↑ 35.0 35.1 Lee, Justina (4 December 2015). "Singapore real estate portal buys Indonesian competitor". Nikkei Asia.
  36. ↑ Tegos, Michael (13 January 2016). "PropertyGuru turns to luxury homes with new acquisition". Tech in Asia.
  37. ↑ Lee, Yoomlin (4 October 2016). "PropertyGuru Invests in Vietnam's Biggest Real-Estate Website". Bloomberg.
  38. ↑ 38.0 38.1 "Batdongsan.com.vn joins Asia's largest property technology group". Viet Nam News. 3 October 2018.
  39. ↑ Chong, Claudia (27 November 2020). "PropertyGuru buys Malaysian property data company MyProperty Data". The Business Times.
  40. ↑ "Bridgetown 2 Shareholders Approve Business Combination with PropertyGuru". Business Wire. 15 March 2022.
  41. ↑ 41.0 41.1 Wauters, Robin (7 June 2012). "Deutsche Telekom subsidiary backs Asian online property group PropertyGuru". The Next Web.
  42. ↑ 42.0 42.1 Tegos, Michael (9 June 2015). "Online property portal PropertyGuru bags $129M investment". Tech in Asia.
  43. ↑ 43.0 43.1 43.2 43.3 43.4 Khoo, Lynette (10 June 2015). "PropertyGuru secures S$175m from 3 investors". The Business Times.
  44. ↑ 44.0 44.1 Liao, Rita (3 September 2020). "PropertyGuru lands $220M from KKR and TPG to conquer Southeast Asia". TechCrunch.
  45. ↑ Nakrosis, Stephen (23 July 2021). "SPAC Bridgetown 2 Holdings Ltd. to Take PropertyGuru Public". MarketWatch.
  46. ↑ 46.0 46.1 Bray, Chad (29 July 2021). "Singapore's PropertyGuru may consider future Asia listing after going public in New York as it aims to be 'gateway' to region's real estate". South China Morning Post.
  47. ↑ 47.0 47.1 Zhang, Lim Min (22 September 2017). "99.co chief says app it helped develop could be used to copy listings from rival PropertyGuru". The Straits Times.
  48. ↑ 48.0 48.1 48.2 48.3 Pornwasin, Asina (27 January 2019). "PropertyGuru moving from search to match platform". The Nation Thailand.
  49. ↑ 49.0 49.1 49.2 49.3 Ng, Michelle (2 September 2020). "PropertyGuru raises $300 million from existing backers to expand in South-east Asia". The Straits Times.
  50. ↑ 50.0 50.1 "EX-99.2 filing". US Securities and Exchange Commission.
  51. ↑ 51.0 51.1 51.2 "Singapore's PropertyGuru raises S$200m funding from KKR". CNA. 31 October 2018.
  52. ↑ Jönsson, Anette (10 June 2015). "PropertyGuru Attracts S$175M From TPG, Emtek and Square Peg". Wall Street Journal.
  53. ↑ "Singapore's PropertyGuru raises $129 mln, TPG among investors". Reuters. 9 June 2015.
  54. ↑ Kodaira, Ryushiro (12 December 2019). "After Gojek, KKR looks to add to its big Asian successes". Nikkei Asia.
  55. ↑ 55.0 55.1 55.2 Chuo, Deviana (3 September 2020). "Singapore online realtor raises $200m from US equity giants". Nikkei Asia.
  56. ↑ "PropertyGuru to go public in merger with SPAC backed by Richard Li, Peter Thiel". Reuters. 24 July 2021.
  57. ↑ "Meet the man who became Singapore's guru of property by accident". The Business Times. 26 August 2018.
  58. ↑ Low, Aloysius (6 November 2014). "House hunting gets easier in Asia with online SmartSelect tool". CNET.
  59. ↑ "Singapore property recovery may leave agents behind". Nikkei Asia. 9 October 2017.
  60. ↑ "Form 425 Transcript of FastKey Final V3 Video". SEC.report.
  61. ↑ "中房榜2019明日隆重启幕 行业盛会热点抢鲜看". China Daily.
  62. ↑ Sridhar, Rama (28 October 2019). "Asia's open banking advantage". MIT Technology Review.
  63. ↑ "How digitisation is paying for DBS". The Economist. 8 March 2018.
  64. ↑ Mui, Rachel (12 March 2020). "PropertyGuru expands into home financing with new mortgage marketplace". The Business Times.
  65. ↑ Cheung, Helier (1 May 2014). "No Indians No PRCs: Singapore's rental discrimination problem". BBC.
  66. ↑ Au-Yong, Rachel (5 September 2017). "Over 1,000 property agents unite against PropertyGuru's price hike". The Straits Times.
  67. ↑ Lim, Janice (11 August 2019). "Too fast, too much: Property agents unhappy over PropertyGuru hiking prices". Today.

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