Revenue at the real estate platform has grown from €30.4mn to €118.8mn since first buyout

  • London-based private equity firm Cinven has agreed to acquire a 70% stake in Iberian and Italian real estate platform idealista in a deal that valued the business at €2.9bn.

  • EQT will retain an 18% stake in the firm, with 12% remaining with Founder Jesús Encinar and the management team.

  • Oakley Capital and Apax Partners, who invested in 2021, have sold their stakes.

  • EQT bought the business from Apax Partners for €1.3bn in a secondary buyout announced in September 2020.


June 28, 2024 (Preqin News) – Founded in 2000 by Jesús Encinar (CEO), Fernando Encinar, and Cesar Oteiza, Madrid-based idealista is an online real estate marketplace. The company received funding from Bonzai Venture Capital, Tiger Global Management, and Kutxabank, according to Preqin’s Company Intelligence data.

In July 2016, Apax Partners acquired an 80% stake in the business, valuing it at €270mn. In 2020, idealista bought Yaencontre, a Barcelona-based real estate portal.

EQT backed a secondary buyout in September 2020 at a €1.3bn valuation, buying Apax’s stake, though Apax reinvested in a €250mn transaction alongside EQT and Oakley Capital in February 2021. Idealista made three acquisitions under EQT’s ownership: Milan-based real estate digital services company Regold; Spain-based property management company Aplicaciones Inmovilla; and the real estate division of Instituto De Desarrollo Asegurador.

Revenue has grown rapidly since the Apax investment, from €30.5mn for the year to December 2015 to €118.8mn in 2022. EBITDA grew from €5.2bn to €64.3bn over the same period. Preqin’s Company Intelligence data also shows a revenue CAGR of 14.7% and an EBITDA CAGR of 29.2% under EQT’s ownership. Idealista now employs 1,180 people.


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