PROPERTYGURU’s chief executive and managing director Hari Krishnan will be stepping down as CEO of the group, after a decade in this role.
In a statement on Monday (Jan 13), Krishnan said that he has decided that “the time is right to pursue new interests and for the company to transition to new leadership”.
Lewis Ng will return to the company and succeed Krishnan as chief executive of PropertyGuru, effective March 2025. Krishnan will then transition to the role of senior advisor to the board.
Ng formerly spent nearly six years at PropertyGuru from 2014 to 2019, serving as managing director of Singapore and chief business officer for the group.
He was most recently chief operating officer for Asia at employment marketplace SEEK. He also serves as a board director at Zhaopin, a recruiting platform in China.
Ng has over two decades of experience across Asia and the technology industry, and has also held leadership roles at Apple, TripAdvisor and Carousell.
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Ng said he is excited to build on the company’s strong foundation as it looks to the future. “I am honoured to lead PropertyGuru in its next chapter and work alongside our talented teams to continue driving growth and delivering value to our customers across South-east Asia.”
PropertyGuru made its debut on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) at a share price of US$8.61 per share, in March 2022. Since listing, the stock has slipped, hitting a low of US$3.17 in February 2024 before recovering to reach US$4.83 in May after news of a possible buyout.
In August last year, the company said that it will be acquired by investment firm EQT Private Capital Asia for US$1.1 billion and taken private.
The Competition and Consumer Commission of Singaporehad in De cember last year, given the go-ahead for the proposed takeover.
PropertyGuru has since been delisted from the NYSE and remains headquartered in Singapore.
The property tech firm on Monday also announced the appointment of Trevor Mather as chairman of the board. Janice Leow, partner in the EQT Private Capital Asia advisory team and head of EQT Private Capital South-east Asia, and Ed Williams, founder and ex-chief executive of UK property portal Rightmove, were named as board directors.
