PropertyGuru names Lewis Ng as new CEO as Hari Krishnan steps down
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Mr Lewis Ng (left) will return to the company and succeed Mr Hari Krishnan as CEO from March 2025.
PHOTOS: PROPERTYGURU, THE BUSINESS TIMES
Crystal Heng
SINGAPORE – PropertyGuru’s chief executive officer and managing director Hari Krishnan is stepping down as CEO of the group after a decade in this role.
In a statement on Jan 13, Mr Krishnan said that “the time is right to pursue new interests and for the company to transition to new leadership”.
Mr Lewis Ng will return to the company and succeed Mr Krishnan as CEO from March. Mr Krishnan will then transition to the role of senior adviser to the board.
Mr Ng had spent nearly six years at PropertyGuru from 2014 to 2019, serving as managing director of Singapore and chief business officer for the group.
He was most recently chief operating officer for Asia at employment marketplace Seek. He also serves as a board director at Zhaopin, a recruiting platform in China.
Mr Ng has more than two decades of experience in Asia and the technology industry, and has also held leadership roles at Apple, TripAdvisor and Carousell.
He said he is excited to build on the company’s strong foundation as it looks to the future. “I am honoured to lead PropertyGuru in its next chapter and work alongside our talented teams to continue driving growth and delivering value to our customers across South-east Asia.”
PropertyGuru debuted on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in March 2022 at a price of US$8.61 per share. Since then, the stock has slipped, hitting a low of US$3.17 in February 2024 before recovering to reach US$4.83 in May after news of a possible buyout.
In August 2024, the company said that it will be acquired by investment firm EQT Private Capital Asia for US$1.1 billion (S$1.5 billion) and taken private.
The Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore had in December given the go-ahead for the proposed takeover.
PropertyGuru has since been delisted from the NYSE and remains headquartered in Singapore.
The property tech firm on Jan 13 also announced the appointment of Mr Trevor Mather as chairman of the board. Ms Janice Leow, partner in the EQT Private Capital Asia advisory team and head of EQT Private Capital South-east Asia, and Mr Ed Williams, founder and former chief executive of British property portal Rightmove, were named as board directors. THE BUSINESS TIMES
