Cinven Fund Acquires 70% Stake in Idealista for €2.9 Billion
The British investment fund, Cinven, has signed an agreement with the shareholders of idealista, the leading real estate platform in Spain, Italy, and Portugal, to acquire 70% of the company for €2.9 billion.
Idealista’s founder and President, Jesús Encinar, will continue to lead the company alongside his team, as he did in 2015 after the sale of idealista to funds managed by Apax and in 2020 after the sale to EQT.
This operation has become the largest operation in history in the technology sector of our country, surpassing the acquisition of Delivery Hero by Glovo for a valuation of €2.3 billion.
"I am very proud of Idealista’s achievements to date," said Jesús Encinar, founder, president, and CEO of idealista. "By supporting thousands of real estate agents and individuals across the region, we have built the company into the leading online real estate classifieds platform in Southern Europe. By combining our experience with the knowledge and experience of the Cinven team, we believe we can further accelerate our impressive trajectory and we look forward to it."
Cinven’s decision to acquire idealista was made after studying the company and observing certain aspects, including:
- Well-established position in a large and structurally growing addressable segment
- Substantial opportunity to continue digitizing the consumer experience 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 auxiliary areas of the Company
- Strong and experienced management team, which will continue to reinvest in idealista
The operation is pending the corresponding regulatory authorizations, which are expected to be obtained in the coming weeks.
What about the other investors?
EQT, which until now was the reference shareholder of idealista since it acquired the majority of the company in 2020, valued then at €1.325 billion, has decided to reinvest to continue as a co-investor with a smaller percentage of 18%.
Funds managed by Apax and Oakley, which to date had 17% and 11% of idealista, respectively, have decided to sell their percentage in this operation and leave the shareholding of the company.
"We are delighted to make this investment in idealista, a leading player in a highly attractive and resilient segment with strong long-term growth opportunities," said Jorge Quemada, co-managing partner and head of the Iberia regional team at Cinven. "The online classifieds segment is growing rapidly and benefits from significant tailwinds for further growth. We look forward to leveraging our global network and extensive investment experience in the Iberian region and, through the Cinven funds’ investments in other iconic European online platforms such as Allegro, to identify new growth opportunities and further expand the business."
