PropertyGuru's $1 billion Australian listing pulled at the eleventh hour
PropertyGuru's $1 billion Australian listing has been pulled at the eleventh hour.
PropertyGuru is the latest company to back out of a planned listing in Australia as economic uncertainties unnerve investors.
South-east Asia's biggest property portal is the fourth company to cancel an initial public offering (IPO) on the Australian Securities Exchange so far this month.
Its indicative price range was A$3.70 to A$4.50.
A PropertyGuru spokesman said on that uncertainty in the IPO market was behind the decision to withdraw the listing, despite it having received "strong investor support from a number of leading global and Australian investors."
The business was founded in Singapore in 2007 by Steve Melhuish and Jani Rautiainen having sensed a dynamic real estate market with no online platform.
Recently Credit Suisse analysts suggested the Asian online real estate listings business could be the next ASX-listed unicorn, a potential $1 billion-plus listing on the Australian Securities Exchange.
PropertyGuru operates digital property classifieds marketplaces in five countries across Southeast Asia – Singapore, Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia.
It claims its market share of the online real estate marketplace as:
◼ 72% in Singapore
◼ 69% in Vietnam
◼ 42% in Malaysia
◼ 45% in Thailand
◼ 49% in Indonesia7
It is the destination of over 23 million property seekers to find their home every month.
With over 45,000 active agents, the real estate portal has a revenue model that is predominantly subscription-based, where agents currently pay upfront fees for an annual subscription that provides them with a number of discretionary credits.
PropertyGuru says its does not need to raise funds for business operations and that it retains support from existing shareholders.
It said that both major shareholders, TPG and KKR, representing 58 per cent of the company ownership, were not seeking to sell any shares at IPO, and had entered into voluntary escrow arrangements until February 2021.
Reuters reported that investor support was coming in at the lower end of the price range as PropertyGuru took orders for the offering.
The deal's joint lead managers told investors that institutional demand was oversubscribed, the report added.