Exclusive | 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
- Property tech company to go public in US following merger with SPAC backed by Hong Kong tycoon Richard Li
- PropertyGuru attracts more than 2.8 million real estate listings a month
The company sees additional “upside” to further expand its dominant position in its core markets in Southeast Asia as it seeks to become the go-to portal for real estate in the fast-growing region as it prepares for a listing on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) as soon as the fourth quarter, according to its top executive.
“The US is not just the deepest capital pool, but, frankly, the most mature investors when it comes to technology businesses,” Krishnan told the Post. “The question became where would people be able to know what good looks like and what great looks like. We see ourselves as a very good technology business with the potential to be a great technology business. Putting ourselves in that investor pool, in that consideration set, in that ecosystem, I think facilitates a realisation of our vision.”
The company, which counts private equity firms TPG Capital and Kohlberg Kravis and Roberts (KKR) as investors, sees a potential US$8.1 billion revenue opportunity in the five markets where it operates and is “barely scratching the surface” in some areas, such as home services, which include movers and contractors, Krishnan said.
“We want to be the gateway to access southeast Asian real estate,” Krishnan said. “We see our ability to drive what we call a property trust platform for Southeast Asia. That’s what we’re trying to do – drive more transparency, drive more efficiency through the marketplace and through software. As a result of that, [we can] create more trust between the stakeholders in the property system. If you do that, you build a very valuable platform business.”