India-based online real estate portal Elara Technologies has received $70m in convertible note financing from media group News Corp and its REA Group advertising subsidiary, the Economic Times has reported.
The deal will cover $35m in debt financing the company secured from Citi Singapore, a subsidiary of financial services firm Citi, in August 2018.
Elara is the owner of online real estate listings platforms Housing.com, PropTiger and Makaan. It set up PropTiger in 2011, bought Makaan four years later and acquired Housing.com in a 2017 deal that valued the combined company at up to $285m.
One of Housing.com’s investors, telecommunications and internet group SoftBank, joined News Corp to provide $55m in funding for the merged company at the time of the transaction.
PropTiger secured $2m from SoftBank, Horizon Ventures and unnamed angel investors in 2011, adding $5m in 2012 and $37m in a 2014 series B round led by News Corp and backed by Horizon Ventures and Accel.
News Corp invested an undisclosed amount in the company the following year, increasing its stake from 25% to 30% in the process. Elara has now raised a total of $175m in funding, according to ET.
Housing.com’s investors included Qualcomm Ventures, an investment arm of mobile chipmaker Qualcomm, as well as Falcon Edge, DST Global, Helion Venture Partners and Nexus Venture Partners. It has not been confirmed whether they retained stakes post-merger.
