Quikr, which claims to be India’s largest classifieds site, is in talks to acquireCommonfloor, a property listings portal. A source says the deal will be worth roughly $200 million and help Quikr build its real-estate listings vertical into an industry leader.
In a statement to the press, Commonfloor said:
“We are in the middle of fund-raising, and there are multiple options on the table. We have not yet finalized one. We are working at multiple levels to ensure our growth takes place in a sustained manner. As a company policy we do not comment on speculations, therefore kindly hold on as we will inform all the stakeholders when the time is ripe. We are committed to our vision of organizing real estate industry in India.”
Quikr and Commonfloor are both Tiger Global portfolio companies. Quikr has raised $346 million so far, according to CrunchBase. Its other investors include Investment AB Kinnevik, and Warburg Pincus. Commonfloor’s total funding is $62.9 million, raised from Tiger Global, Google Capital, and Accel.
Quikr has been developing a real-estate listings portal, but acquiring Commonfloor will save it years of work to build a market, since Commonfloor, which was founded in 2007, already claims to be India’s top real-estate listings portal.
The classifieds company reportedly tried to buy Housing.com, a Commonfloor competitor, this summer, but the claims were dismissed by Housing.com chief executive officer Rahul Yadav.
While India’s real-estate market has struggled with slow sales and too much inventory, many observers believe it is set for a recovery over the next five years thanks to several factors, including GDP growth and steps by the administration of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to make housing affordable and allow foreign investment in real estate projects.
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