ERA owners exploring IPO for S'pore's biggest property agency

NORTHSTAR Group said it is in the early stage of exploring an initial public offering of Singapore's biggest real estate agency ERA Realty Network, which has turned out to be one of its top-performing investments thus far.

But the Singapore-headquartered private equity firm remains mum about when ERA will return to the local bourse since the delisting of its former listed parent Hersing Corporation four years ago.

Northstar's co-founder and managing director Patrick Walujo said there is still some runway before the listing takes off, since its fund that bought into ERA has a 10-year lifespan that is extendable.

Its move in late 2013 to acquire ERA for about S$130 million following a spate of property cooling measures, especially th…