Quickr acquires real estate portal CommonFloor: Report
The Mumbai-based online classifieds firm recently ventured into real estate by launching a marketplace called QuickrHomes
Co-founders of CommonFloor
Mumbai-cased online classifieds company Quikr has acquired Google Capital-backed real estate portal CommonFloor.com in a stock-and-cash deal, according to a report by VCCircle quoting an unnamed source.
The deal values Bangalore-based CommonFloor at around US$112 million, said the source, adding: “It is 99 per cent complete; what remains is some paperwork.”
Founded in 2008 by Chulet and Jiby Thomas, Quikr is a large scale cross-category classifieds business with over 30 million consumers. The site enables users to sell, buy, rent or find products and services. The services are available in 1,000 cities in India and it operates in over 10 categories that include mobile phones, household goods, cars, real estate, jobs, services and education.
The firm has been rapidly expanding its services that include its recently-launched real estate marketplace QuickrHomes, which provides customer engagement and lead management tools to builders and brokers. It also provides a complete living experience for home seekers in the form of additional information about the neighbourhood, schools, malls, hospitals, parks and walking areas.
Also Read: His business education started at age 8…here’s CommonFloor CEO’s unusual story
“Quikr’s real estate vertical is not an established business yet. They would still need the CommonFloor management to run the business. Therefore, they (CommonFloor founders) will not exit immediately for sure,” the source added.
The firm has raised around US$350 million in funding to date, including a US$150 million round from Tiger Global Management, Swedish VC fund Investment AB Kinnevik and Hong Kong-based Steadview Capital, in April this year.
Also Read: RedMart launches on-demand marketplace service for everything
CommonFloor was founded in 2007 by Sumit Jain, Vikas Malpani and Lalit Mangal.
Rumour mills have been active for some time now about the possible acquisition or merger of CommonFloor, which competes with the likes of Times Group’s MagicBricks and InfoEdge’s 99acres.com, besides SoftBank-backed Housing.com, which had recently been in the news for the firing of its former CEO Rahul Radav and restructuring.
The sale of CommonFloor reflects the on-going slump in the real estate market in India. Property prices have declined over the recent months and builders are struggling to find buyers for their inventory.
The post Quickr acquires real estate portal CommonFloor: Report appeared first on e27.
