Kiwi tradies' online marketplace Builderscrack acquired by Australian company

Builderscrack has been acquired by Australia's hipages Group Holdings Limited. Photo / 123rf

New Zealand's leading tradie marketplace Builderscrack has been acquired by Australia's hipages Group Holdings Limited.

The 100 per cent acquisition of MyQuote Limited, trading as Builderscrack, is for A$11.8m in cash and equity.

Founded in 2007 by general manager Jeremy Wyn-Harris, Mark Dickson and Keith Roberts, Builderscrack grew to post more than 95,000 jobs on its platform in the past 12 months.

It has facilitated more than $250m of value from more than 480,000 jobs posted since its foundation, including more than $67m in the past financial year.

hipages Group CEO and co-founder Roby Sharon-Zipser said: "This makes hipages Group the clear transtasman 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."

The acquisition gives the ASX-listed hipages Group, Australia's largest online tradie marketplace, access to a new $26b total addressable market, in addition to Builderscrack's 4000 active tradies and 200,000 registered homeowners.

"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," Sharon-Zipser said.

Wyn-Harris said hipages Group is a "natural partner".

"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," he said.

This year, with many in Covid-19 lockdown, 80 per cent of New Zealand homeowners undertook home maintenance, repairs or renovations, compared to 71 per cent of Australian homeowners. Electricians (56 per cent), plumbers (52), and builders (37) were the most in-demand NZ tradies.