Apax Partners has agreed to sell its stake in southern European online real estate platform idealista to fellow private equity player EQT at a €1.3bn valuation.
The company provides an online classifieds marketplace for home buyers and sellers across Spain, Portugal and Italy.
Apax bought into the business in 2015, acquiring the company’s shares held by Tiger Global Management, Kutxabank and Bonsai Venture Capital.
The firm said idealista had increased traffic by more than 4x under its ownership, including a dramatic shift to mobile devices.
That expansion has in turn driven a three-fold rise in revenues since 2015.
Apax partner Tom Hall said, “It has been a huge privilege to work with Jesus, Fernando and Cesar and the rest of the idealista team over the past five years.
“They have remained relentlessly focused day after day on improving the liquidity, functionality, and ease of use of the idealista marketplaces for buyers, sellers, renters and landlords in each of Spain, Italy and Portugal.
2As a consequence of this, the business has grown dramatically in each of those countries and is now a clear market leader in Spain and Portugal, and a strong player in Italy.”
Other digital marketplace investments by the Apax Funds include AutoTrader (UK), SouFun, TradeMe and Baltic Classifieds Group.
European buyout major EQT set a €15bn hard cap for its latest flagship private equity fund in April.
It warned at the time that the vehicle was likely to take longer than usual to raise due to the coronavirus crisis, but a report from PEI in July suggested the firm was eyeing a final close before the end of the third quarter.
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