KUALA LUMPUR: Singaporean billionaire investor Peter Lim has acquired a 20% stake in The Edge Media Group’s new property portal, theedgeproperty.com, for an undisclosed consideration.

The investment represents Lim’s first foray into the technology sector. Lim’s major investments, besides the football club Valencia, include Thompson Hospital, FJ Benjamin, and McLaren. 

The Edge Media Group is owned by Datuk Tong Kooi Ong, who helms it as the executive chairman. Apart from the property portal, the group publishes The Edge Singapore, The Edge Malaysia, The Edge Review, The Edge Financial Daily and theedgemarkets.com.

“This unique Internet technology enables and helps existing shareholders strengthen their business”, said Lim in a statement issued by The Edge Media Group yesterday. 

“The business model is not disruptive and it is aligned to the interests of the property agents, developers, banks and public users. Growth prospects are good because it’s very scalable and revenue generation is immediate. The fundamental strength in Tong’s theedgeproperty.com is it wins by enabling existing stakeholders to win,” he added.

Tong’s experience is the driving force behind this unique business model. Starting out as a financial analyst, he built a successful universal bank in the 1990s. 

A pioneering technopreneur, Tong was the first to introduce an integrated online, mobile, equity trading and e-commerce banking platform in the 1990s. As a property developer, he led Phileo Land in the 1990s and then Sunrise Bhd in the 2000s. 

theedgeproperty.com, which will have its official launch event in Singapore on July 25, is now live. It successfully debuted in Malaysia on May 7. 

The Edge Media Group said there are no comparable property platforms around in terms of comprehensiveness. 

“Besides listings, it has a full range of analytical tools including indicative valuations, past transactions, rental rates, trends, hotspots and new project launches,” it said. 

As identified by Lim, the fully inclusive property platform’s objective is to assist all the industry players — from public buyers and sellers to developers, banks and other service providers. 

It has partnered 10 top developers in Malaysia and discussions are in progress in Singapore for the same. 

“Offering mortgages within the platform will be a central feature, where the full experience of buying a property — from searching for listings, to contacting the right agents, to finding the right locations and price, to evaluating comparable properties that are available and transacted, to what price to make an offer and securing a mortgage —is seamlessly and conveniently integrated,” it said. 

“For the first time, property buyers, sellers and renters will have all the information that is required in making a better decision, for free,” it added. 

“If none of the existing listings meet their complete criteria, whether it’s the product, location or the price they are prepared to pay, simply use the property watch list and they will be informed once a new listing that meets their criteria becomes available.”

Check out www.theedgeproperty.com or download the app for more information.

This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on June 5, 2015.