Info Edge (BOM: 532777) (Naukri.com) has launched a new portal - AllCheckDeals.com, in the real estate segment. The site offers online real estate brokerage services, to complement the listings portal 99Acres. This isn’t the first time that Naukri’s started a business as a horizontal expansion of their existing business - they have a recruitment consultancy Quadrangle, which complements their jobs portal Naukri.com. The next logical step would be to launch a marriage consultancy business, to complement Jeevansathi.com, right?

Update During the earnings conference call, Info Edge CEO and MD Sanjeev Bikhchandani explained the reasoning behind allcheckdeals.com: In real estate deals in India, there’s a substantial cash component (read: black money), but a large number of people want to do a completely white transaction. At the same time, it’s difficult to find agents/brokers who offer a white deal, so AllCheckDeals fills that gap. They charge a transaction fee, and a success fee, and have already closed a few transactions.

Disclaimer: I have an inconsequential number of shares of Info Edge