HDFC and Quikr Announce Transaction. To Launch Online-to-Offline Solutions
Highlights:
- Quikr to integrate HDFC’s real estate brokerage platform HDFC Realty Ltd., and, HDFC Developers Limited (which runs the HDFC RED platform) with its platform. HDFC will also acquire an equity stake in Quikr
- Transaction includes co-branded alliance between HDFC and Quikr
Mumbai/Bengaluru December 21st, 2017: Housing Development Finance Corporation Limited (HDFC Ltd.), India’s leading mortgage company today announced that it has entered into definitive agreements to transfer its entire shareholding in HDFC Realty Limited, a real estate brokerage platform; and, HDFC Developers Limited (which runs the HDFC RED platform) to Quikr, India’s market leader in digital classified business. HDFC has also acquired an equity stake in Quikr India Private Limited (Quikr India).
HDFC Realty is HDFC’s offline brokerage business with a presence across residential and commercial properties as well as consulting and valuation services. It has a 300 member in-house sales team and 7,000 strong nationwide broker network. RED is an online real estate classifieds platform with ~7,000 project listings on its platform. It generates traffic of over 80,000 unique visitors per month.
With 30mn monthly users, Quikr is India’s largest classifieds platform that runs multiple vertical businesses across real estate, automobiles, jobs, services and goods. Its real estate vertical ‘Quikr Homes’ generates 3.5mn monthly unique visitors. The company has rapidly established itself as a leader in digital real estate.
Post integration of HDFC Realty and RED, Quikr will become India’s leading online-to-offline real estate platform, and offer consumers end-to-end home buying services. The transaction also takes HDFC a step further in engaging with customers at the start of their real estate purchase cycle, when they are browsing for properties on Quikr’s digital platforms.
HDFC will also work closely with Quikr to jointly conduct analytics and identify potential home-buyers, and therefore home loan customers, early in their home buying journey. HDFC RED will further strengthen Quikr’s existing leadership in classifieds whereas the brokerage business will help the two partners bring closure to enquiries generated from consumer demand. This positions Quikr to strongly benefit from the recent regulatory changes in real estate sector that have created new opportunities for organized players. Given the varied needs of customers, besides leveraging HDFC Realty’s brokerage capabilities, Quikr will continue to work with external brokers as it does currently to ensure full coverage.
Kotak Investment Banking acted as the exclusive financial advisor to HDFC Ltd. on this transaction. Avendus Capital was the exclusive financial advisor to Quikr for this transaction.
Commenting on the development, Ms. Renu Sud Karnad , Managing Director, HDFC Ltd. said, “We are happy to associate with Quikr. The future of real estate is ‘digital’ and Quikr has built a robust technology platform for consumers with products for developers and brokers who stand to benefit in the post-RERA regime. We hope to derive value from Quikr’s diversified customer base, while offering our strengths in the real estate sector. ”
On the announcement Pranay Chulet, Founder and CEO, Quikr, said, “The partnership with HDFC has come at the most opportune time when the Indian real estate industry is undergoing fundamental transformation, creating great opportunities for those who want to bring new, innovative solutions for all industry stakeholders. We see great synergies between Quikr and HDFC as we start working together to bring a seamless online-to-offline platform to developers and consumers. We are excited to combine the force of the Quikr and HDFC brands as we continue to innovate for India.”
About HDFC Ltd.
Housing Development Finance Corporation Ltd (HDFC), the pioneer of retail housing finance in India has assisted over 61 lakh families to own their house. HDFC’s strength has been its value-added services, delivered through a specialist team of trained and experienced professionals. HDFC has consistently had an impeccable record of customer friendly services.
HDFC has been described as a model housing finance company providing technical assistance and consultancy assignments for developing countries across Asia, Africa and East Europe. HDFC ‘s average loan is around Rs 26 lakh and has been catering to affordable housing segment. HDFC has been awarded amongst the top performing institutions under the Credit Linked Subsidy Scheme – Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban) in 2017.
About Quikr
Quikr is India’s largest classifieds platform that is used by over 30 million unique users a month. It is present in 1000 cities in India and operates several large classifieds businesses across real estate, automobiles, jobs, services and goods. Quikr is accessible across mobile app, mobile site as well as desktop, and allows consumers as well as small businesses to sell, buy, rent and find things across its multiple categories with great ease. Quikr’s investors include Tiger Global Management, Kinnevik, Warburg Pincus, Matrix Partners India, Norwest Venture Partners, Nokia Growth Partners, Steadview Capital, Omidyar Network etc.
Visit www.quikr.com for more details.