PropertyGuru secures US$129mil investment from consortium

• Investors TPG, Emtek Group and Square Peg to join PropertyGuru board
• Minority partner Scout24 exits, to focus on its core markets in Europe

SINGAPORE-headquartered online property portal group PropertyGuru Group announced it has received a S$175-million (US$129-million) investment from a strategic consortium of three investors, believed to be the largest investment in the South-East Asian technology sector so far this year.
 
The new funds will support PropertyGuru’s innovation, marketing and further expansion in the region, with the aim of boosting its position, the company said in a statement.
 
The investing consortium comprises global private investment firm TPG, Indonesian media group Emtek Group, and Asia Pacific-based tech venture capital firm Square Peg Capital.
 
The transaction is expected to close by mid-June, at which point representatives from the consortium will join PropertyGuru’s board.

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Berlin-based Scout24, previously a minority shareholder after it came on board with an undisclosed investment in 2012, will exit the business to focus on its wholly-owned property and car online classified businesses in Europe, PropertyGuru said.
 
“PropertyGuru has built its track record on a vision of consumer-centric innovation that empowers people to make better property decisions,” said cofounder and chief executive officer Steve Melhuish (pic).
 
“We will capitalise on this investment to tap into the South-East Asia property market potential and developments in the digital space to further our regional agenda,” he added.
 
PropertyGuru operates a network of property portals across Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand.
 
The company claims that the value of real estate transactions through its platform is estimated to be S$14 billion (more than US$10 billion) per annum – approximately 10% of all property transactions in the region.
 
“The continued growth of PropertyGuru in Malaysia is a testament to the company’s successful strategy of focusing on building the most innovative customer-centric real estate platform,” said TPG senior advisor Ali Redhauddin.
 
TPG already owns complementary Internet and real estate companies in its portfolio, including Uber, Airbnb, Lynda.com, SurveyMonkey, RentPath and  8990 (Philippines), among others.
 
“This investment underscores Square Peg’s philosophy of building and investing in businesses which have the capacity to leverage multiple growth levers from positions of strength,” said Square Peg cofounder and partner Paul Bassat.
 
Meanwhile, Emtek Group is already PropertyGuru’s partner in Indonesia and will now strengthen its relationship with this latest round of investment.
 
“Consistent with Emtek’s focus of investing in technologies that shape businesses and broader society – and where it can leverage its media expertise – this investment in PropertyGuru presents a prime opportunity for us to deepen our exposure to the online classified business,” said Emtek Group commissioner Jay Wacher.
 
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