PropertyGuru Limited today announces that it has decided not to proceed with its proposed initial public offering (IPO) on the Australian Securities Exchange (“ASX”).

PropertyGuru Chairman Olivier Lim said: “Despite strong engagement throughout the process with prospective investors, the board and existing shareholders have determined not to proceed with the offer. This decision took into account the current IPO market sentiment.”

However, in its official statement, the company remains positive in its outlook for the performance of the business. PropertyGuru said that it does not require new funds to be raised to fund its current business operations.

Furthermore, it continues to have the support of its existing shareholders, especially by both major shareholders TPG and KKR, that represent aggregate ownership of 58 per cent. Both are said to not be seeking to sell any shares at IPO and had entered into voluntary escrow arrangements until February 2021.

“Should the company seek new funds to support our identified growth opportunities, we have a committed existing shareholder base as well as access to private capital markets,” Lim added.

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PropertyGuru CEO Hari V. Krishnan said: “Over the last several years, we have built a team and business which has been committed to building transparency and efficiency in the Southeast Asian real estate markets. Our team remains committed to pursuing our mission, given the size of the opportunity available to us, and our track record of sustainable and profitable growth”.

This is the second time PropertyGuru has withdrawn from an IPO filing after being heavily nominated and expected to go through with it by many of its backers. The first time was in 2016 when it decided to not go through with its own comment in 2015 about possible IPO on SGX.

Steve Melhuish, Co-founder and now-Vice Chairman of Property Guru, at that time was quoted saying: “For us, it makes more sense for us to say: ‘Let’s be private for a little bit longer, grow so we are not a small player who lacks liquidity and can be sustainable.’ When we raised the private investment, [we decided] we are going to use it for accelerated growth.”
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