Rumah.com Parent Company to be Listed on the New York Stock Exchange Soon

Proptech startup from Singapore, PropertyGuru or known by its product Rumah.com in Indonesia, is preparing to take the floor on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on March 18, 2022.

This corporate action will be realized after the company completes the merger process with Bridgetown 2 Holdings, aka the blank check company (SPAC). As reported by The Strait Times, PropertyGuru will also hold a GMS on Tuesday, 15 March 2022 to seek approval from shareholders.

Meanwhile, its merger with SPAC is expected to boost its valuation to $1.78 billion. Currently, Bridgetown 2 Holdings is backed by conglomerates Peter Thiel and Richard Li.

PropertyGuru is a property listing platform with service coverage in the Southeast Asia region. Based on financial performance, PropertyGuru’s growth last year was contributed by three main markets, namely Singapore, Vietnam and Malaysia.

The company recorded revenues of $100.7 million, an increase of 22.7% from $82.1 million in the previous year. This achievement exceeded the company’s target of $97.5 million. This year, PropertyGuru projects a 44% increase in revenue to $145.1 million.

It was also reported that PropertyGuru had increased its agent subscription fee by 15% in the Singapore market in November 2021.

PropertyGuru CEO Hari Krishnan said that the increase was based on a number of factors, such as property prices, consumer interest, solid property agents, and PropertyGuru’s strong position in the proptech market.

For your information, SPAC is also known as a shell company that raises funds through public offerings to acquire specified companies. This type of company has no independent business model other than financial transactions.

Usually, companies that want to go public, target the stock exchanges in the United States. However, recently the stock exchange in Singapore introduced rules regarding IPOs via SPAC last September.

In Indonesia, a number of technology startups want to “go public” using SPAC vehicles instead of conducting conventional IPOs. Several startups that are preparing to IPO with SPAC are GoTo, Kredivo, and Traveloka.

Proptech Market Momentum

In general, the property market has been sluggish due to the Covid-19 pandemic since 2020. However, a number of parties project that there will be momentum for a revival in this sector, albeit slowly.

According to a survey conducted by Knight Frank Indonesia, there are three sectors that are estimated to have good growth performance, namely residential, industrial & logistics, and retail.

In addition, the momentum of the property sector has also been strengthened by the growing awareness of the millennial generation to start buying property, such as houses, for both essential and investment needs.

Based on data from the Ministry of Public Works and Public Housing in 2019, as many as 81 million millennials do not own a house.

Earn IDR 1.07 Trillion Profit

Singapore-based real estate technology company PropertyGuru Group posted a 22.7 percent increase in total revenue to S$100.7 million (IDR 1.07 trillion) for the 2021 fiscal year, up from S$82.1 million (IDR 871.41 billion) in the last year period.

As reported by The Business Times on Monday (01/03/2022), the group, of which Rumah.com in Indonesia is a part, said its reported revenue exceeded its 2021 forecast of S$97.5 million by 3.3 percent and believed it reflected increasing confidence in the property market.

This comes as PropertyGuru prepares to go public through a merger with Bridgetown 2 Holdings, a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) backed by billionaire Peter Thiel and Hong Kong tycoon Richard Li.

Apart from this projection, it is not yet known whether the action on the stock exchange will affect PropertyGuru’s growth in Indonesia or not, considering that currently PropertyGuru’s main markets are Singapore, Malaysia and Vietnam.

In Indonesia, PropertyGuru operates through Rumah.com which is a joint venture with EMTEK Group. In addition, EMTEK is also PropertyGuru’s investor in the series D funding round.

Competition in the field of proptech is also getting stronger when big players start conducting M&A to diversify and strengthen their position in the market.