India classifieds business Quikr buys CommonFloor
Indian classifieds site Quikr has bought property search website CommonFloor for an undisclosed amount. Both companies have received VC funding.
CommonFloor will be combined with Quikr's real estate vertical QuikrHomes, with the merger expected to be completed over the next three months, according to a statement. While the size of the deal has not been announced, media reports put the valuation of Quikr after the deal at about $1.5 billion, and CommonFloor's valuation at $120 million.
The merger will give CommonFloor access to Quikr's 30 million customers across its business categories, while QuikrHomes will use CommonFloor's technology expertise to improve its own systems. Both websites will continue to operate separately, and there are no plans to downsize either team - which number 1,000 for CommonFloor and 350 for QuikrHomes.
Rumors of the upcoming acquisition, which CommonFloor has consistently denied, began circulating last year. CommonFloor has raised several rounds of funding since its launch in 2007 - mostly from Accel Partners and Tiger Global, but with Google Capital committing an undisclosed amount last year as well - and had expressed a desire to pursue a public listing.
Accel, through its investment in CommonFloor, will become a stakeholder in Quikr through the merger. Tiger Global has already made significant investments in Quikr, having led a $60 million round for the company in 2014 and a $150 million round last April. Other investors in Quikr include Sweden's AB Kinnevik, which participated in the Tiger-led $150 million round and also led a $90 million round for the company in 2014.
CommonFloor is Quikr's third acquisition aimed at strengthening QuikrHomes since last year. It purchased real estate agent aggregator Indian Realty Exchange in November and real estate analytics platform realtycompass in December. In addition, it has made a number of strategic investments, such as in street-level mapping service WoNoBo.
Competitors of Quikr and CommonFloor in India's online property space include Housing.com, whose largest investor is SoftBank, and PropTiger, which has raised funds from SAIF Partners, Accel, and News Corp.
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