Daily Briefing: Property portal 99.co forms JV with Australia's REA Group; Amazon expands local online store in Singapore

And NTUC FairPrice has launched 30 housebrand products.

From DealStreetAsia:

Property portal 99.co will establish a joint venture with Australia-listed digital advertising firm REA Group aiming to be the largest online property listing platform in Singapore and Indonesia.

REA Group said in a statement that the joint venture company will be established by the transfer of the existing businesses of 99.co, iProperty.com.sg and Rumah123.com.

Existing 99.c0 shareholders, including founding partners Sequoia, Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin, Allianz X, MindWorks Ventures, East Ventures, and 500 Startups will have a combined stake in the JV company of 73 per cent.

The development comes close on the heels of PropertyGuru’s filing for an IPO on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX).

Read more here.

From Reuters:

Amazon has launched a bigger local store and marketplace in Singapore, expanding its product selection and intensifying competition with rivals such as Alibaba Group Holding Ltd’s Lazada and Sea Ltd’s Shopee.

Amazon also said it will allow small and medium-sized businesses to offer their products to online shoppers with Amazon.sg.

The U.S. company launched local online shopping in the city-state over two years ago, but its initial local selection, which focused on groceries and household essentials, has not been as wide as those offered by rivals.

Read more here.

From Channel News Asia:

Supermarket chain NTUC FairPrice is planning to refresh its housebrand range of products and has launched its first phase of 30 new housebrand products.

NTUC FairPrice is aiming to introduce 300 products in the next 12 months.These include Thai Hom Mali rice, olive oil, green tea, low glycemic-index bread, facial tissue and potato chips.

FairPrice offers more than 2,000 housebrand products under different brands, including FairPrice, Pasar, Harvest Fields, Golden Chef and Life.

Read more here.