‘Asia makes a lot of sense’: REA boss keen to take on Singapore rival

PHOTO: REA Group

REA Group chief executive Owen Wilson is looking to expand outside of Australia and is preparing to challenge dominant Singaporean listings company PropertyGuru as the rival pushes on with an initial public offering that could raise up to $380 million.

The News Corp-backed property listings group and owner of realestate.com.au entered into a joint-venture agreement with Singapore and Indonesian company 99.co on Tuesday in a bid to grow its Asian footprint as the Sydney and Melbourne housing markets recover from a lengthy downturn.

Nine Entertainment Co, the owner of this masthead, is the major shareholder of Australia’s second-largest property listings business Domain Group.

Mr Wilson said the deal was unlikely to be REA’s last in Asia, which he views as the global region with some of the best future business prospects.

READ MORE VIA SMH