Aurum PropTech acquires REA India's PropTiger in strategic share-swap deal
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Listed property technology company Aurum PropTech has acquired 100% of PropTiger , the Indian arm of News Corp Australia-backed REA Group , through an all-stock strategic equity swap. This marks the first-ever share-swap–based acquisition in the country's proptech sector.As part of the transaction, REA India will become a 5.5% equity shareholder in Aurum PropTech by receiving 4,242,537 equity shares through a preferential allotment.Under the agreement, REA India will transfer complete operational control of PropTiger to Aurum, including its technology infrastructure, team, customer relationships, and intellectual property.The transaction will result in PropTiger's integration into Aurum's broader proptech portfolio, which includes NestAway, Sell.Do, HelloWorld, and Aurum Analytica."Our conviction in this acquisition stems from a shared vision with REA India to digitize the consumer's real estate journey. This reinforces Aurum's lead across the total addressable market (TAM) for residential real estate distribution in India, estimated at Rs 38,000 crores in annual expenditure across lead generation, sales automation, and transaction management,' said Ashish Deora, Founder and CEO of Aurum Ventures.PropTiger reported a compounded annual revenue growth of 23% between 2021-22 and 2023-24, closing 2023-24 with revenue of Rs 95.5 crore. With this acquisition, Aurum adds a 350-member residential brokerage and technology team, strengthening its position in the residential real estate services segment.Aurum has named Prakash Tejwani as the new Chief Executive Officer of PropTiger and Sridhar Srinivasan will be elevated as Chief Business Officer over the next 12 to 18 months.According to Praveen Sharma, CEO of REA India, the decision to align PropTiger with Aurum would enable the platform's long-term growth. 'This agreement helps sharpen our focus on Housing.com and its digital initiatives, while unlocking greater value for PropTiger through its integration with Aurum,' Sharma said.PropTiger's integration into Aurum's existing platform is expected to drive efficiencies through a unified data and Artificial Intelligence (AI) framework. The combined setup will offer tools such as virtual property tours, investment dashboards, and analytics-driven property recommendations.This deal marks a strategic move by REA Group to retain exposure to the Indian market through its stake in Aurum while exiting direct control of PropTiger, which it acquired in 2017 and later merged with Housing.com and Makaan.For Aurum, the share-swap structure adds PropTiger to its growing proptech ecosystem without upfront cash outflow, building on its recent string of platform integrations.Melbourne-headquartered REA Group is a global digital business specializing in property, with businesses in Australia, Asia and North America. It is listed on the Australian Securities Exchange and is majority-owned by News Corp Australia , led by Rupert Murdoch.The company's market capitalization stands at over A$30.9 billion as of July end, ranking it among the world's top real estate internet platforms. The group owns and operates over 16 real estate related brands globally.
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