PropertyGuru to acquire REA Group's Malaysia, Thailand units

[SINGAPORE] Singapore real estate startup PropertyGuru has agreed to acquire all of the shares in REA Group's operating entities in Malaysia and Thailand, marking the biggest acquisition in its 14-year history.

PropertyGuru will acquire iProperty.com.my and Brickz.my in Malaysia and thinkofliving.com and Prakard.com in Thailand from Australia's REA Group, the South-east Asian company said in a statement on Monday.

As part of the deal, REA, which is majority-owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp empire, will get an 18 per cent equity interest in PropertyGuru and appoint a director to its board. No price has been disclosed for the deal.

"This is our largest acquisition and transformative for PropertyGuru," chief executive officer Hari V Krishnan said in an interview with Bloomberg News via Zoom. "This acquisition allows us to be much more synergistic and look for areas where we can invest."

The announcement comes after a flurry of deal-making by the most valuable startups in the region. Ride-hailing and payments giant Gojek and e-commerce leader Tokopedia announced earlier this month they will combine their businesses to create the largest internet company in Indonesia. Close Gojek rival Grab Holdings last month agreed to go public in the US through a combination with Altimeter Growth in the largest-ever merger with a blank-cheque company.

For PropertyGuru, the deal will likely reduce competition in Malaysia and Thailand where the company has been competing against REA's affiliates. Mr Krishnan said the firm will keep the existing brands and invest in their development for the foreseeable future.

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"iProperty Malaysia in particular is an excellent asset," the CEO said. "Malaysia is going through a bit of correction, driven very much by Covid right now, but the mega macro trend still exists." Shares in REA Group gained as much as 0.9 per cent in Australia on Monday.

Launched in 2007 to help Singapore residents search for real estate online, PropertyGuru has become a household name in the property-crazed city-state. Today, it's the largest real estate marketplace in South-east Asia with operations spanning countries including Vietnam, Malaysia and Thailand. It is backed by KKR & Co and TPG Capital LP.

In October 2019, the company scrapped plans for an initial public offering on the Australian stock exchange over valuation concerns. About a year later, it announced S$300 million in new funding from existing backers.

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READ MORE: KKR-backed PropertyGuru weighs US listing via SPAC