PropertyGuru set to go public in $1.78 billion SPAC deal

Southeast Asia’s leading property technology company, PropertyGuru, has inked a deal with special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) Bridgetown 2 Holdings for a business merger which will see PropertyGuru list on the New York Stock Exchange.

The combined company will have an enterprise value of approximately US$1.35 billion and an equity value of approximately US$1.78 billion at closing. The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2021 or first quarter of 2022, subject to regulatory and stockholder approvals, and other customary closing conditions.

PropertyGuru’s management team, led by Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director Hari V. Krishnan and Chief Financial Officer Joe Dische will continue to lead the public company after the completion of the transaction.

Hari V. Krishnan said that becoming a public company will provide PropertyGuru with greater financial resources to help people find, finance and own their homes in an efficient and transparent manner.

PropertyGuru, founded in 2007, has grown to become Southeast Asia’s leading digital property marketplace with leading positions in Singapore, Vietnam, Malaysia and Thailand. The company currently hosts more than 2.8 million monthly real estate listings and serves 37 million monthly property seekers and 49,000 active property agents across the five largest economies in Southeast Asia – Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

“We have established a market leadership position in the Southeast Asian property ecosystem and a track record of revenue growth. Much of our success is the result of our investment in technology over the years and capturing strategic growth opportunities in recent times,” said Hari V. Krishnan, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, PropertyGuru Group. “We believe the strategic, proactive steps that we have taken over the past 18 months will enable us to stay ahead of the market’s evolving needs, which are increasingly being shaped by the growth of affluent and digitally-enabled populations living in cities across Southeast Asia.”

PropertyGuru provides digital property marketplaces to match buyers and tenants with sellers and landlords; digital marketing services for property agents and developers; SaaS-based sales process automation for property developers, a digital mortgage marketplace and brokerage, and property data consultancy services for banks, valuers and property developers. The Company’s PropTech business model leverages proprietary data and technology to drive greater transparency and efficiency in the market and deliver a trusted platform for agents, consumers, developers and banks.

Southeast Asia is estimated to become the fourth largest economy in the world by 2030, driven by long-term macroeconomic trends, including urbanization, a rising middle class and digitalization. These favorable dynamics are creating significant opportunities in the region’s property market as an increasingly affluent and digital-first population seeks property across the region. PropertyGuru said that it has positioned itself to capture these growth opportunities through continued investment in its products and services to stay ahead of the evolving market and made a series of strategic acquisitions to add new capabilities and extend its leadership position.

Bridgetown 2 Holdings was established by German-American entrepreneur Peter Thiel’s Thiel Capital and Hong Kong entrepreneur Richard Li’s Pacific Century Group. Peter Thiel, President of Thiel Capital said that the market for property is probably the oldest market in the world, and only now is it beginning to change rapidly. “As PropertyGuru spearheads that change in Southeast Asia, Bridgetown 2 will provide capital and expertise to accelerate it even further,” said Peter Thiel.