Rupert Murdoch-led News Corp today announced acquisition of 25% stake in Indian realty portal PropTiger.Com for US $30 million (Rs 185 crore) as part of its strategy to expand presence in digital media. News Corp picked up the stake in Singapore-based Elara Technologies Pte Ltd, the parent firm of PropTiger.Com.
Noida-based PropTiger.Com, which was founded in February 2011, has eight offices in the country with employee strength of around 500. It has facilitated sale of over 10,000 housing units so far worth about Rs 7,000 crore. "News Corp's investment continues the acceleration of its global digital footprint with an emphasis on India, where the company also has a presence through its Dow Jones, WSJ and HarperCollins Publishers businesses," News Corp said.
As part of the investment, News Corp Senior Vice President (Strategy) Raju Narisetti will join Elara's board. News Corp Chief Executive Robert Thomson said: "India has more than 270 million Internet users and the number is growing exponentially. We are extremely enthusiastic about potential for PropTiger.Com as the country fulfils its digital destiny."
PropTiger.Com Co-founder Dhruv Agarwala told PTI the firm would utilise the funds raised from News Corp for expansion. "We will invest in technology, product and marketing. We will open offices in more cities and also enter into secondary market of real estate sector. Currently, we only sell flats available in primary market," he added.
Apart from News Corp, Agarwala said the existing investors, among whom are SAIF Partners, Accel Partners and Horizen Ventures, have agreed to add another US $7 million to their current investment. Asked about company's revenue, he said it is through commission earned from developers. He refused to divulge the expected revenue for this fiscal.
On shareholding, Agarwala said News Corp has become the largest shareholder in PropTiger.Com. "News Corp brings digital real estate know-how, product experience and content expertise that will help us drive product innovation, customer engagement and traffic growth," Agarwala said.
It is estimated India will be US $158 billion residential realty market by 2020, a News Corp statement added. In July 2013, News Corporation completed the separation of its business into two independent companies - 21st Century Fox and News Corp. Post the separation, Star India became a wholly-owned subsidiary of 21st Century Fox.
PropTiger.Com was founded by Dhruv Agarwala and Kartik Varma, classmates from Harvard Business School, along with Prashan Agarwal, an alumnus of the Indian Institute of Technology and the Indian School of Business. News Corp owns Move, Inc., operator of realtor.Com. In addition, News Corp has a 61.6% stake in REA Group Ltd, operator of the leading Australian residential property website,realestate.Com.Au. REA also has a substantial stake in iProperty, the leading digital real estate advertising business across South East Asia.
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