News Corp buys 25% stake in Indian real estate portal PropTiger.com

New Delhi: News Corp., the media and publishing company owned by Rupert Murdoch, has acquired a 25% stake in Indian online real estate portal PropTiger.com, for $30 million, the company said in a press statement on late Monday night.

Nasdaq-listed News Corp. has invested in Elara Technologies Pte Ltd, which owns PropTiger.com. The move makes Murdoch the latest entrant into India's fast-growing e-commerce space. The company already has a presence in India through its Dow Jones, Wall Street Journal and HarperCollins Publishers India Ltd businesses.

The news comes two months after News Corp. agreed to buy US property company Move that runs realtor.com for about $950 million.

PropTiger.com was founded in 2011 by Dhruv Agarwala, Kartik Varma and Prashan Agarwal. The portal's existing investors include Accel Partners, SAIF Partners India and Horizen Ventures.

As part of the investment, Raju Narisetti, senior vice-president, strategy, News Corp., will join Elara's Singapore-based board, the company said in a statement.

"India has more than 270 million Internet users and the number is growing exponentially. There is no doubt that the development of digital is empowering individuals and transforming industries, and we are extremely enthusiastic about the potential for PropTiger.com as the country fulfils its digital destiny," said Robert Thomson, chief executive of News Corp. "PropTiger.com will provide analysis, information and insight so that Indians will be better informed when they make the most significant investment decision any family will make, buying a home," he added.

News Corp also has a 61.6% stake in REA Group Ltd that operates Australian residential property website realestate.com.au. REA also has a substantial stake in iProperty, a leading digital real estate advertising business across South East Asia. "PropTiger.com will benefit from News Corp.'s digital and product expertise, drawing on its experience with REA and Move," the company said in a statement.

At least 10,000 properties, with a combined value of over $1 billion, have already been bought in India through PropTiger.com, according to the statement. "It is estimated that India will be a $158 billion residential real estate market by 2020," the company said in the statement.

Disclaimer: This information has been collected through secondary research and IBEF is not responsible for any errors in the same.