SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA: hipages Group Holdings (ASX:HPG) has completed the acquisition of Builderscrack, New Zealand’s leading online tradie marketplace.
hipages Group is the owner of hipages, Australia’s largest online tradie marketplace and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) provider connecting tradies with residential and commercial consumers.
hipages is acquiring 100% of the issued share capital of MyQuote Limited, trading as Builderscrack, for
A$11.8m, to be 80% funded through existing cash reserves with a 20% equity component.
The transaction will be value accretive to hipages Group, with Builderscrack being operating cash flow and
working capital positive.
The transaction makes hipages Group the trans-Tasman market leader for trade services, giving access
to a new NZ$26b total addressable market (TAM), in addition to Builderscrack’s 4k active tradies and
200k registered homeowners.
Co-founded in 2007 by General Manager Jeremy Wyn-Harris, Mark Dickson and Keith Roberts, Builderscrack has grown to be New Zealand’s leading online tradie marketplace, with 95k jobs posted
on its platform in FY21.
It has facilitated over NZ$250m of job value from more than 480k jobs posted
since its foundation, including over NZ$67m of job value in FY21.
hipages Group CEO and Co-Founder, Roby Sharon-Zipser, said: “We are excited to announce the acquisition of Builderscrack, New Zealand’s leading online tradie marketplace. This makes hipages Group the clear trans-Tasman market leader connecting trusted tradies to homeowners.
Jeremy and the Builderscrack team have built a great business around a strong technology platform and an incredibly loyal tradie base. We will supercharge their growth by leveraging the strategic and operational experience we gained from scaling our business in Australia, as well as helping them to grow their brand to capture the huge market opportunity in New Zealand.”
Builderscrack General Manager and Co-Founder, Jeremy Wyn-Harris, said: “We have built our business and technology from the ground up and created a brand that resonates strongly with New Zealanders.
As Australia’s leading online tradie marketplace, hipages Group is a natural partner for us, and joining forces with Roby and his team will enable us to take our business to the next level. We look forward to learning from them and sharing ideas, as well as rolling out new products and services to add value for our tradie customers.”
The acquisition of Builderscrack is the latest step in hipages Group’s growth strategy, continuing the Company’s strong momentum following its recently announced strategic investment in property management technology platform Bricks + Agent, as well as the roll out of Tradiecore, its field service software solution.
Builderscrack delivered a strong performance in FY212, generating revenue of NZ$2.6m, up 24% on pcp, and delivered NZ$1.0m EBITDA at a 37% EBITDA margin. In FY21, it facilitated approximately NZ$67m of job value on its platform from over 95k jobs posted.
For the seven months post completion in FY22, Builderscrack will contribute A$2.3m to hipages Group revenue and will not have a material impact on hipages Group’s EBITDA and EBITDA margin.
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