Investment fund Oakley Capital has agreed to invest 175 million euros ($212 million) in a minority stake in Spanish property portal Idealista, just four months after Sweden’s EQT bought the platform for $1.58 billion.
Idealista, which operates in Spain, Portugal and Italy and receives 38 million monthly visitors across the region, has grown rapidly in recent years as Spain’s real estate market gradually recovered from a devastating crash in 2008.
It has over 1.5 million properties listed in Spain, as well as 1 million in Italy and 300,000 in Portugal.
EQT’s purchase of the company in September signalled the opening of a phase of consolidation in Spain’s property sector, which is still composed of numerous relatively small players.
“We believe that Idealista has significant potential to further consolidate its market-leading position in Southern Europe,” Oakley Capital managing partner Peter Dubens said.
The London-based private equity fund sold Italian classified ads portal Casa.it to EQT in September, which integrated it into Idealista’s existing Italian operations to strengthen its position in the country.
A spokesman for Oakley Capital declined to comment on how much Idealista was being valued at in the current fundraising process.
Source: Reuters
Reporting by Clara-Laeila Laudette; additional reporting by Arno Schuetze; editing by Jason Neely
