UPDATED, June 8, 9:05 p.m.: A Peter Thiel-led SPAC is in talks to merge with online real estate firm PropertyGuru to tap into Southeast Asia’s real estate market.
Thiel and billionaire Richard Li’s Bridgetown 2 Holdings are now in discussions with PropertyGuru for the U.S. listing, Bloomberg News reported, citing people with knowledge of the matter. The combined firm could be valued at as much as $2 billion.
PropertyGuru — backed by private equity firms KKR and TPG Capital — is focused on real estate in Singapore, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand. It backed out of plans to go public on the Australian stock exchange back in 2019.
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The company recently acquired the Malaysia and Thailand operating entities of the global online real estate advertising company REA Group.
Bridgetown 2 Holdings raised about $300 million in its U.S. public offering in January. The company said it plans to focus on financial services, technology, and media in Southeast Asia, according to Bloomberg.
Thiel is a founder of PayPal and Palantir Technologies and was among the first outside investors in Facebook. Thiel bought two waterfront adjacent Miami Beach mansions in September for $18 million.
[Bloomberg News] — Keith Larsen
Correction: A previous version of the story incorrectly stated information about PropertyGuru’s acquisition of REA Group’s entities.