International private equity firm, Cinven, today announces that it has reached an agreement to acquire a majority stake in idealista (‘the Company’), the leading online real estate classifieds platform in southern Europe, for an enterprise value of €2.9bn.
Founded in 2000 and headquartered in Madrid, idealista provides online real estate classifieds portals for real estate agents and private individuals across southern Europe where they can advertise their property portfolio for sale and for rent. idealista’s online platform also offers a range of additional digital services including mortgage brokerage, CRM software, rental and agency services, and insurance brokerage to assist and facilitate real estate transactions.
Cinven’s Iberia regional team and TMT sector team worked closely together to identify idealista as an attractive investment opportunity given its:
- well-established position in a large addressable and structurally growing segment;
- substantial opportunity to continue to digitize the consumer journey and real estate agent workflows;
- attractive business and financial model, uniquely positioned to capture growth opportunities given its value proposition and strong brand recognition;
- opportunity to grow, develop and diversify other ancillary areas of the Company; and
- strong and experienced management team, who will continue to reinvest in idealista.
Jorge Quemada, Co-Managing Partner and Head of Cinven’s Iberia regional team, commented:
“We are delighted to be making this investment in idealista, a leading player in a highly attractive and resilient segment with strong long-term growth opportunities. The online classifieds segment is growing fast and benefits from significant tailwinds for this to continue going forward. We look forward to leveraging our global network and extensive experience investing in the Iberia region and through the Cinven funds’ investments in other iconic European online platforms like Allegro, to identify new growth opportunities and further scale up the business.”
Thomas Railhac, Partner and Head of Cinven’s TMT sector team, added:
“The real estate online classifieds segment has been an area of focus for Cinven’s TMT team for several years and having analysed the space closely we have been impressed by idealista’s reputation, journey and growth. Together with Jesús and the management team, we are excited to continue to build on the Company’s significant momentum, provide the best service for real estate agents and further strengthen its brand.”
Jesús Encinar, Founder, Chairman & CEO of idealista said:
“I am extremely proud of idealista’s achievements to date. Supporting thousands of real estate agents and private individuals across the region we have built the Company into the leading online real estate classifieds platform in southern Europe. Combining our experience with the knowledge and experience of the Cinven team we believe we can accelerate our impressive trajectory even further and we look forward to it.”
The transaction is subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions.