PropertyGuru SPAC Merger Cleared By The SEC Ahead of March Shareholder Vote

The Southeast Asian real estate portal group PropertyGuru has today announced that the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) has cleared the company's proposed merger with Peter Thiel's special purpose acquisition company Bridgetown 2 Holdings.

In March 2021 news emerged that PropertyGuru was looking to go public via a SPAC merger following an aborted IPO in 2019. Nearly a year later the company now finds itself tantalisingly close to a debut on the U.S. public market with the only hurdle left to clear being the formality of a vote of Bridgetown 2 Holdings' shareholders set to be held on the 15th of March.

In a press release announcing the SEC approval, PropertyGuru CEO Hari V. Krishnan provided an update on the company's progress in its key markets.

In the group's home market of Singapore, which is also its main source of revenue, PropertyGuru increased agent subscription prices on average by 15% in November 2021, a feat the company attributes to rising property prices, solid agent and consumer confidence and PropertyGuru's strong market position.

New listings on the company's leading portal in Vietnam (Bantdongsan) in December 2021 were up 450% on August's figures as the local market recovers and the Vietnamese government listed restrictions in Q4.

In Malaysia, following a momentous deal to acquire iProperty from REA Group in May 2021, the two portals are now fully integrated and are "combining [their] resources to increase cross-selling opportunities, bringing together best practices from both teams and improving [their] reach while reducing our marketing spend".

"Thanks to the hard work and dedication of our Gurus, PropertyGuru is well-positioned to continue its growth journey as Southeast Asian economies exit strict Covid measures. Our financial results for the first half of 2021, showing a 17.9% revenue growth at June YTD vs the same period in 2020, demonstrated that our strategy to invest in our digital marketplaces and to expand our products and services into Fintech and data solutions is working." Commented Krishnan.

PropertyGuru holds significant market leadership in many of the Southeast Asian markets it operates real estate portals in and the company has put a great deal of emphasis on expanding its TAM into adjacent fintech products at a time when the tailwinds of increased online penetration and a burgeoning middle class may see tech companies blossom.

However, PropertyGuru may soon face increased competition in Southeast Asia from local rival 99 Group which is reportedly in talks with horizontal classifieds player Carousell over a potential merger.