Kevin Nyango
SA Home Loans, a mortgage finance provider in South Africa, announced its involvement in a deal with PropertyFox an online real estate company. SA Home Loans made an announcement that it now has 49% stake in PropertyFox.
Crispin Inglis, co-founder of PropertyFox did not disclose the financial worth of the deal but said in a phone call made to Ventureburn that the money made from the deal will help to strengthen the company’s presence in South Africa and boost expansion through marketing and tech development.
The co-founder also went ahead to disclose that the deal has been at the door for over a year after PropertyFox approached the mortgage finance provider, SA Home Loans.
The founders will still retain a major stake in the company despite offering 49% to SA Home Loans. The deal, however, opens the door for both parties from SA Home Loans to be present on PropertyFox’s board.
According to the two founders of PropertyFox, Crispin Inglis, and Ashley James, the time was ripe for such investment especially considering the direction the South Africa’s real estate sector was taking and the demand for a completely different approach.
Inglis explained that they had to extensively discuss opening the door for either a partner or small investor. But that they soon realized that they needed a partner more in other to taste success and achieve the company’s full potentials.
PropertyFox was launched in April 2016 and claims to have helped consumers in the real estate market to save more than R10-million. It charges 1.5% commission for every transaction and users pay a registration fee of R2 500.
According to Inglis, the reason they agreed to go into partnership with SA Home Loans is that the company is used to the system. And they also have the financial means and experience that can stimulate the growth of PropertyFox.
He continued “We gave them complete details of what we have done already and our future goals.”
Inglis said he believed that their partnership with SA Home Loans was successful because both companies have the same origin and desire to change the status quo.
According to the CEO of SA Home Loans, Kevin Penwarden, the deal was an excellent one for the two companies.
Penwarden continued that SA Home Loans have always wanted an opportunity to dive into the property industry because it aligns vertically with the industry they are operating and PropertyFox aligned strongly with them. He said PropertyFox has a compelling business model that has worked in other parts of the world.
