PropertyGuru turns to luxury homes with new acquisition

Ensign Media CEO Terry Blackburn (left) and PropertyGuru CEO Steve Melhuish. Photo credit: PropertyGuru

Online property discovery and classifieds portal PropertyGuru has added one more company in its inventory of acquisitions, it announced today. The Singaporean startup has picked up Property Report and Asia Property Awards, both businesses of Singapore-headquartered Ensign Media.

Details of the deal, which is a full asset purchase, have not been disclosed, although the value is in “the millions of dollars” according to PropertyGuru co-founder and CEO Steve Melhuish. Ensign’s staff will be rolled into PropertyGuru, including Ensign co-founder and CEO Terry Blackburn, who will remain at the helm of the two businesses.

Steve says PropertyGuru attracts 14 million monthly users across the four countries it’s currently in (Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand). Through its 1.3 million listed properties, the company has enabled transactions worth U$S12 billion per year. It has so far raised a disclosed total funding of US$183,000,000.

See: Online property portal PropertyGuru bags $129M investment

Property Report is a glossy bi-monthly print magazine that focuses on the luxury side of the property market in Southeast Asia. Ensign Media started publishing the mag in 2004, one year after the company was founded in Thailand. It’s available throughout ASEAN and in Hong Kong, with a monthly readership of about 32,000. The website attracts another 40,000 visitors and 60,000 page views per month – impressive given the high-end niche the company is in.

Ensign Media’s other major (ahem) property is the Asia Property Awards, an annual ceremony that takes place across Southeast Asia. The winners from each country go on to participate in the Southeast Asia Property Awards ceremony, which takes place in Singapore. The awards highlight “the high-caliber work within the Asian real estate industry, encompassing construction, architecture, and interior design.” It also holds the annual China Property Awards in Hong Kong, covering mainland China, Hong Kong, and Macau.

Winners of the 2015 Indonesia Property Awards. Photo credit: Asia Property Awards

Property glamour

PropertyGuru is adding Property Report and the Asia Property Awards to the rest of its integrated media initiatives, which include online content, property shows, TV (in Indonesia, through its partnership with its investor Emtek Group), and various publications in Singapore.

Property Report’s objective, transparent coverage of Southeast Asia’s high-end property market will help to further legitimize PropertyGuru’s work, Steve says. The awards shows will also add an extra layer of credibility and definitely some prestige.

The judge panels are comprised of industry experts “whose extensive knowledge of various components of the real estate industry is unrivalled,” according to Ensign. The process is always monitored by a representative of international public accounting firm BDO to ensure everything’s on the up-and-up.

Steve says this allows PropertyGuru to move into more lifestyle-type content, and to do so with an established and credible brand. This will ultimately benefit the consumer and provide more quality properties for the marketplace to list. More importantly, this focus will help attract cross-border buyers looking to invest in high-end properties across the region.

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