After taking a stake in Indian real estate portal PropTiger.com in November, realtor.com’s new maestro, News Corp., is investing in another Indian company with real estate ties.
The media giant announced the acquisition of Mumbai-based BigDecisions.com, which claims to help Indian consumers make smarter, data-based financial decisions about big life events, including buying and renting real estate. The acquisition of BigDecisions.com includes the site’s parent company, FinDirect Services Pvt Ltd.
“Our latest investment builds on our abiding belief that a digital India needs more trusted, reliable and independent data,” said Robert Thomson, News Corp.’s CEO, in a statement. “BigDecisions.com will help Indians make the most important decisions by using accurate information tailored to their personal needs. This platform will be high-quality, privacy-protected and easy to use.”
The 2-year-old site claims to have helped approximately 40,000 users make decisions about life and health insurance, retirement planning and other complex issues. BigDecision.com co-founders Manish Shah and Gaurav Roy will help oversee a significant expansion of the BigDecisions.com team, as well as its consumer offerings.
News Corp.’s growing international real estate portfolio could mean that U.S. real estate consumers could conceivably see ideas, tools and elements from its other properties popping up on realtor.com.
News Corp. has a presence in four regions of the globe now.
| Portal, country | News Corp. stake in portal’s operator |
| realtor.com, U.S. | 80% |
| realestate.com.au, Australia | 61.6% |
| iProperty, Southeast Asia | “Substantial stake” |
| PropTiger.com, India | 25% |
Source: News Corp.