PropertyGuru to be delisted in New York in acquisition by EQT Private Capital Asia

SINGAPORE – Singapore-based property technology company PropertyGuru Group is being bought out and will eventually be delisted from the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), it announced on Aug 16.

The firm, which started as an online real estate listings portal, is being acquired by investment firm EQT Private Capital Asia for US$1.1 billion (S$1.45 billion).

Shares in the firm will be cancelled and converted into the right to receive an amount in cash equal to US$6.70 a share, without interest. The merger price represents a 52 per cent premium to PropertyGuru’s closing price on May 21, the last unaffected trading day prior to media speculation regarding a potential transaction.

It also represents a 75 per cent premium to the company’s 30-day volume-weighted average share price, and an 86 per cent premium to the 90-day average price.

PropertyGuru began trading on the NYSE in March 2022 at US$8.33.

The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter, or the first quarter of 2025, subject to conditions, including approval by PropertyGuru shareholders.

Once the transaction is completed, PropertyGuru shares will no longer trade on the NYSE, and it will become a private company with its headquarters remaining in Singapore.

PropertyGuru connects around 28 million property seekers with 46,000 agents each month. It has over 2.1 million real estate listings, alongside advice to help people make decisions, in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam.

The website PropertyGuru.com.sg was launched in Singapore in 2007 and has since expanded, with a finance and home services platform, among other features.

Reports in May had said that American private equity firms KKR & Co and TPG were considering options for PropertyGuru, including a buyout. KKR and TPG owned about 26.5 per cent and 29.6 per cent of PropertyGuru, respectively.

PropertyGuru posted a net loss of $6.3 million for the first quarter that ended in March, compared with a $10.2 million net loss in the same period in 2023.

But revenue for the quarter rose 11.9 per cent to $36.5 million, from $32.6 million a year ago, on the back of strong growth in the Singapore marketplace segment.

Before its listing in 2022, PropertyGuru made an earlier attempt in 2019 that was scrapped due to valuation concerns and a rocky market, reports said. It eventually went public through a merger with Bridgetown 2 Holdings, a special purpose acquisition company, or blank-cheque company.

At the time, after the merger, PropertyGuru had an enterprise value of about US$1.36 billion and an equity value of about US$1.61 billion.