Despite a really unfortunate name, New Zealand online tradie marketplace “Builderscrack” has been acquired by hipages (ASX: HPG), Australia’s largest online tradie marketplace.
(I mean honestly, I can’t be the only one who thinks of a plumber’s butt peeking out of the top of jeans as he crouches under a sink when reading that website name, right?)
Partially revealed gluteals aside, the acquisition marks an important milestone for hipages who will now expand their presence across the Tasman, opening them up to a new $25 million market. Builderscrack currently only holds a small market share of less than 1% but with 4,000 active tradies, 200,000 registered homeowners and over 95,000 jobs posted on the site per year, the potential is certainly there.
Builderscrack has generated a total of NZ$250 million in job value since its establishment in 2007 and NZ$67 million in job value in FY21 alone. Hipages sees numerous opportunities to grow the business and optimise their business model in line with theirs.
Founded by trio Jeremy Wyn-Harris, Mark Dickson and Keith Roberts, the Kiwi-owned site delivered significant performance in FY21, generating NZ$2.6 million in revenue (up 24% on the previous corresponding period). From that, the site delivered an EBITDA of NZ$1 million, at a 37% margin.
Group CEO and Co-Founder of hipages, 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.”
With the gig economy growing and remaining a strong source of revenue for many hipages is a good tool for someone with specialised skills to advertise themselves in a low cost way.
Sites like these also consolidate the highly fragmented gig economy sector.
The last step in the hipages growth plan, the acquisition comes after an investment in property management technology platform Bricks + Agent. In recent months hipages has also launched Tradiecore, a field service software solution.
The Company will now focus on building out that revenue in the hopes of a stronger balance sheet as the two businesses realise synergies and opportunities to tackle more of the market.
Samantha Freidin is a business journalist at Emerald Financial whilst also completing a Masters of Marketing and Digital Communications at Monash University.
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