Uría advises Apax Partners on its €250m reinvestment in idealista

Uría Menéndez has advised Apax Partners on its acquisition of a 17 per cent stake in Spain´s Real Estate platform idealista for €250 million

Apax Partners will invest €250 million to become once again a shareholder of the real estate platform idealista, a leading online real estate broker with operations in Spain, Portugal and Italy, from which it exited at the end of 2020 with a million-dollar operation, and in which it now is acquiring a 17 per cent stake.

In September last year, Apax sold its stake in Idealista to the Swedish investment firm EQT in a landmark transaction in Spain in the field of online companies valued at €1,.3 billion, as announced by Iberian Lawyer.

The Funds managed by Apax Partners are reinvesting in the company, following the recent entry of Oakley Capital, which currently holds 12 per cent of the company’s share capital, and will invest alongside the management team of idealista and Fund IX EQT, the majority shareholders of the company.

Tom Hall, partner at Apax Partners, said: “We are excited to reinvest in idealista, having had the enriching experience of working closely with Jesús and the rest of the team following our investment in the company in 2015. I was impressed with his industry knowledge, execution and leadership skills and we look forward to supporting their continued growth.”

“We are very pleased to welcome Apax Partners and Tom Hall back to idealista. Very few funds have such a deep understanding of our industry. Since 2015 we have worked closely with Tom and his team. Idealista would not have had the immense growth we have had without Apax Partners. The reinvestment of Apax Partners is a source of pride for us and we are very happy to be working together again,” said Jesús Encinar, founder, chairman and CEO of idealista.

Uría Menéndez advised Apax Partners on this deal with a Madrid office M&A-Private Equity team led by partner Juan Martín Perrotto (pictured left), together with senior associate María García Roldán (pictured right), associate Arlanza Sánchez García, and junior associates Luis Ignacio Díaz González and Marta Areces López.