Northstar Group picks up ERA regional master franchise
Northstar Group has completed the acquisition of the Asia Pacific master franchise rights for property agency ERA from Hersing Corporation. It follows the Southeast Asia-focused GP's purchase of ERA franchise in Singapore from the same seller two months ago.
The Asia Pacific rights cover 18 countries in the region, including Australia, Japan, China and Indonesia. The management team that participated alongside Northstar in the Singapore buyout, led by CEO Jack Chua, will be responsible for managing the Asia Pacific master franchise. Approval was required from US-based Realogy Grouo, the ultimate owner of the ERA name globally, for the deal to go through.
"We are committed to the long-term development of the ERA master franchise in the region, and are pleased to be able to grow the brand across a region where the real estate sector offers significant potential," said Ashish Shastry, managing partner at Northstar.
At present, Singapore is by some distance the most profitable part of the business. It is the dominant player in public housing (HDB) sales - and 80% of Singaporeans live in HDB properties - brokering 44,000 transactions with a total value of S$22.3 billion in 2012.
Northstar reportedly paid more than S$100 million ($78.8 million) for the asset, with approximately one third of the transaction funded through debt. It plans to re-list ERA Singapore - which was previously privatized as part of Hershing - on the domestic bourse as a ‘pure-play' real estate brokerage within 2-3 years.
More on Real estate
Latest News
Asian GPs slow implementation of ESG policies - survey
Asia-based private equity firms are assigning more dedicated resources to environment, social, and governance (ESG) programmes, but policy changes have slowed in the past 12 months, in part due to concerns raised internally and by LPs, according to a...
Singapore fintech start-up LXA gets $10m seed round
New Enterprise Associates (NEA) has led a USD 10m seed round for Singapore’s LXA, a financial technology start-up launched by a former Asia senior executive at The Blackstone Group.
India's InCred announces $60m round, claims unicorn status
Indian non-bank lender InCred Financial Services said it has received INR 5bn (USD 60m) at a valuation of at least USD 1bn from unnamed investors including “a global private equity fund.”
Insight leads $50m round for Australia's Roller
Insight Partners has led a USD 50m round for Australia’s Roller, a venue management software provider specializing in family fun parks.