Global Investment Giant KKR’s Recent Investment in Asia
International investment firm KKR has beefed up its investment in Asia by purchasing the largest properly listing group PropertyGuru.
KKR paid nearly US$ 144 million for the Singaporean-based online retail company. Established nearly a decade ago, PropertyGuru lists properties in Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, and Indonesia.
PropertyGuru has obtained nearly U$127 million in 2015 from investors in Australia’s Square Peg and TPG. The deal values at the unicorn company amount to over a billion dollar. However, the company has not carried out valuation up to this point.
However, Mr. Hari V. Krishnan, the CEO of PropertyGuru, has stated that the company is a profitable one with a positive cash flow. The annual growth of the company stands at 25 percent, according to the owner of the company.
The firm has a large market share in Southeast Asia, targeting more than 600 million consumers. Internet penetration in the region is higher than in the US.
PropertyGuru has been engaged in the buyout of regional property firms. For instance, previously, PropertyGuru bought the Vietnamese-based rental portal Batdongsan that has more than four million visitors a year.
The company started out from property listing in Singapore. From there, it has gradually branched out to four additional Southeast Asian cities of Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, and Vietnam.
More Investments Ahead
KKR’s investment in PropertyGuru is a series of million-dollar digital investments in Asia. Apart from the retail company, the global investment firm has also invested in the Indonesian ridesharing company Go-Jek, which has the financial backing of companies like Google and Tencent. The ridesharing company is now estimated to be nearly $9 billion.
KKR has also invested nearly $175 million in a fintech company Voyager that is based in the Philippines.
With the purchase of Property Guru, the company has become one of the most established players in the Southeast Asian digital retail market.
With the purchase of PropertyGuru, KKR has become a rival of big Asian online property sites such as 99.co that has the backing of one of the co-founders of Facebook Eduardo Saverin and iProp that is listed on the Australian stock exchange.
The company also plans to raise a U$1.5 to US$2 billion infrastructure-focused fund for investment in Asia. The new fund will focus on different segments, including energy and road developments across Asia. This will be the first time that the company will raise a fund that is focused on a particular population segment.
The decision to focus on investment in Asia makes sense right now. Asian countries especially China and Southeast Asian nations are experiencing unprecedented growth. As a result, a large investment is required for infrastructure projects in Asia. By investing in online retail sites like PropertyGuru and infrastructure fund KKR is looking to position itself for growth.