Catcha Group is an international Internet group founded by entrepreneur Patrick Grove. The Group controls a number of publicly listed and private media, new media, online classifieds and e-commerce businesses, and is one of the largest investors in the digital sector in emerging markets, notably ASEAN. Catcha Group and its related entities have completed over 60 investments either directly or indirectly, as sole, majority or minority shareholders. Since inception, Catcha Group has completed a number of transactions with a total of five IPOs in nine years, including the 2007 listing of iProperty Group on the Australian Securities Exchange, REV Asia Berhad on Bursa Malaysia in 2011, and the subsequent IPOs of iCar Asia in 2012, Ensogo in 2013 and Frontier Digital Ventures in 2016; all three on the Australian Securities Exchange. Investors in Catcha Group companies include News Corporation, REA Group, Star Media Group, Intel Capital, Carsales.com Limited, Australian Foundation Investment Company, BlackRock, Goldman Sachs, Credit Suisse, Fidelity Funds Management, and Sky PLC.
Portfolio
The company's portfolio of investments include:
iProperty Group - owner and operator of Asia’s No.1 network of property websites, in Singapore, Malaysia, Macau, Hong Kong, Indonesia, with investments in India and the Philippines. The company was listed on the Australian Securities Exchange in September 2007, and added to the S&P/ASX 300 as one of the top 300 listed stocks on the Australian Securities Exchange in March 2014. It crossed the MYR1 billion milestone in market capitalisation in October 2013. With REA Group's US$100 million investment in July 2014, iProperty became the most highly valued publicly traded Internet company in ASEAN. In February 2016, iProperty was acquired by REA Group in a transaction valuing iProperty at US$534 million. Catcha Group remains a shareholder of the business and retains seats on the company's board of directors.
Ensogo Limited - an eCommerce group built through the acquisition of daily deal websites across Southeast Asia. The company was listed on the Australian Securities Exchange on 20 December 2013.
iCar Asia Limited - ASEAN’s largest network of online automotive sites. Among its brands are One2car.com, Autospinn.com and Thaicar.com in Thailand, Mobil123.com in Indonesia and , LiveLifeDrive.com and Malaysian EVO magazine and its spin offs, in Malaysia. The company was listed on the Australian Securities Exchange on 11 September 2012. In March 2013, Australia's leading online cars classifieds acquired a seat in the company, further increasing its stake in March 2014. The S&P Dow Jones Indices announced in iCar's inclusion to the All Ordinaries Index on 21 March 2014.
iflix - Southeast Asian Internet TV service. The company launched in March 2015, and is now available in Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand and Indonesia. In April 2015, iflix announced the completion of a $30 million round of funding, led by Catcha Group and Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company. In March 2016, it was announced that iflix had attracted a $45-million investment from European pay-TV giant Sky PLC.
Frontier Digital Ventures - operator of online classified businesses with a focus in frontier markets. Founded in May 2014 and headquartered in Kuala Lumpur, the company's primary expertise is in automotive portals, property portals and general classified websites. The company has a portfolio of companies operating in 18 countries across frontier markets globally The company listed on the Australian Securities Exchange on 26 August 2016.
The company also sold off REV Asia to Media Prima in May 2017 for $24 million. REV Asia Berhad - a publicly listed new media group with operations online and in magazine publishing. Key shareholders besides Catcha Group include Datuk Justin Leong and Star Publications Berhad. The company was listed on the Malaysian Stock Exchange in July 2011. Following the completion of the merger between certain Catcha Media Berhad subsidiaries and Says Sdn Bhd on 8 October 2013, a new company, Rev Asia Holdings Sdn Bhd was formed.
Investment strategy
Group CEO Patrick Grove has described Catcha Group as being akin to a venture equity firm rather than a traditional investment group. He describes it thus: "Not only do we start companies, we also invest in them and we drive them... We call it venture equity." Focusing on investments within the online sector, Catcha Group's strategy is to look at what works in the West and bring it to the East. In an interview with e27.co, Catcha Group's Group CEO Patrick Grove has said “We like to bet on ideas where the concept is already proven. Our only risk is execution risk, we don’t like to bet on idea risk.” Part of Catcha Group's investment strategy is to grow the Group and its business through acquisition. Speaking in an interview with BRW, Patrick Grove was quoted as saying: “In an industry that moves so fast, the way to get market share fast is to acquire rather than start from scratch." Targeting opportunities in emerging markets, Catcha Group is especially bullish on Southeast Asia.
