Oakley Capital has agreed to take a minority share in idealista, a major online real estate classifieds platform in Southern Europe, present in Spain, Italy, and Portugal.
Oakley’s Fund IV will invest €175 mln alongside the management team of idealista and EQT, who will remain the majority shareholders in the company following the purchase of the business late last year for €1.3 bn from funds advised by Apax Partners and management.
The deal follows the sale by Oakley’s Fund III in September 2020 of Casa.it to the Swedish investment group EQT, which subsequently integrated it with idealista’s Italian operations.
Founded in 2000 and headquartered in Madrid, Spain, idealista supports 40,000 real estate agents and 38 million unique monthly visitors across Southern Europe by providing an online real estate classifieds marketplace for home buyers and sellers. The Company’s online platform and diversified portfolio of digital services, such as CRM tools, data analytics, and online mortgage brokerage, help facilitate efficient real estate transactions, making it a key destination for prospective homeowners and sellers in Spain, Italy, and Portugal. idealista is a leader in Spain and Portugal and has a growing presence in Italy, a market where the company will benefit from Oakley’s previous experience with Casa.
Jesús Encinar, founder, chairman & CEO of idealista, commented: ‘We are very excited to partner with EQT and Oakley and look forward to working together during the coming years. EQT and Oakley’s online classifieds and real estate expertise will be of great value for us and key to our future success. We share a similar culture and passion for growth – a key decision factor for me and my team to partner with them.’
