SingTel has bought over HungryGoWhere for S$12 million. Its operation will be merged with InSing.com. For the benefit of those who do not know, HungryGoWhere is a popular restaurant review portal. I believe many Singaporeans will know or have been using it for reference when searching for good food places.
I hope that SingTel will not change too much on the way HungryGoWhere operates. Most people love it for the fact that it is very focus on just one thing. If there are too many elements, it will cause confusion.
SingTel acquires HungryGoWhere to re-shape culinary experiences across Asia
Site visitors enjoy end-to-end experience from reviews to deals and reservations
Singapore, 22 May 2012 – Singapore Telecommunications Limited (SingTel) today announced that it has signed an agreement to acquire 100 percent of GTW Holdings Private Limited (GTW), the owners of HungryGoWhere, Singapore’s most popular food website, for a sum of S$12 million.
Restaurant review portal HungryGoWhere.com is the leading food portal in Singapore, with additional online presence in Hong Kong, Malaysia, Vietnam, Cambodia and Australia.
Under the agreement, GTW will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of SingTel. Its operations will be merged with inSing.com – also a subsidiary of SingTel – Singapore’s leading lifestyle and local search site.
The combination of these top lifestyle sites will change the game by creating an audience of two million customers – the largest food and lifestyle audience in Singapore. By combining HungryGoWhere with inSing.com’s food channel, SingTel will be the leading digital expert on food and culinary establishments and will serve over 70 per cent of the visitors who rely on mobile and online means for food and restaurant advice.
SingTel will extend this model beyond Singapore because the food vertical is critical in Asia. In addition SingTel will add automated restaurant reservations and use the expertise to expand overseas across Asia.
Eating out is the top ranking activity among consumers in Singapore and a large percentage of online search queries are restaurant-related. This deal makes it easier for people to find, rate and book restaurants in a very personalised way. Now they will get access to over 100,000 restaurant reviews, food-related deals and discounts, together with information on over 15,000 restaurants and hawker stalls across desktop, tablet and mobile devices.
Advertisers and restaurant owners can gain access to an unsurpassed audience size, while leveraging new integrated marketing tools and solutions, including advertising, business listings, deals and instant real-time on-line restaurant reservations.
Mr Allen Lew, CEO Group Digital L!fe, SingTel said, “We are delighted to announce this deal. The talented HungryGoWhere team has built a much-loved brand which has become the go-to site for restaurant reviews and information, delivering a great experience around one of Singapore’s favourite pastimes.”
“A cornerstone of SingTel’s growth strategy is to build digital solutions that help consumers in their daily lives – as they live, work and play. Possessing the local knowledge and content is critical as it allows us to compete effectively in these areas. SingTel will continue to form partnerships for important and unique content, including in retail, entertainment and other lifestyle needs,” Mr Lew said.
Mr Dennis Goh, Founder and Managing Director of HungryGoWhere said, “We are delighted to be joining the inSing.com and SingTel family. This deal allows our award-winning content to be seen by even more people in the region and will accelerate the investment and distribution of our new online restaurant reservation system.”
HungryGoWhere has recently developed and launched the TableDB Reservation Platform, built on tablet solutions, which gives restauranteurs a super-charged reservation book that is as mobile and easy to use as traditional pen-and-paper. Restaurants are not only able to take and manage reservations, but also improve in-house productivity and provide customers with higher levels of service through TableDB’s unique CRM tools.
HungryGoWhere’s expansion into the online restaurant reservation segment, together with inSing.com, creates the most comprehensive, end-to-end food listing and reservation business in Singapore. The combined sites will provide the most complete service for diners looking for a convenient one-stop shop for restaurant reviews, deals and reservations.
GTW’s Singapore-based founders will continue to play an important role in expanding SingTel’s hyper-local services in Singapore and internationally.
