Idealista

Idealista is Spain's leading real estate portal, founded in 2000 in Madrid by Jesús Encinar to connect buyers, sellers, and renters through listings of millions of properties in Spain, Italy, and Portugal. Over more than two decades, Idealista has become the reference infrastructure for the Iberian real estate market, a position underpinned by solid financial growth: in 2023 the company closed the year with revenue of €260 million (+19% year-on-year) and EBITDA of €94 million. This solidity attracted a sizeable private equity transaction: in June 2024, EQT — the Swedish fund that had acquired Idealista in 2020 at a €1.3 billion valuation — sold its majority stake to Cinven in a deal valuing the company at €2.9 billion, a 2.25x multiple over the valuation four years earlier. Cinven took a 70% stake, while Apax and Oakley — which held 17% and 12% respectively — exited the capital. EQT retained an 18% residual stake, while management led by founder Jesús Encinar keeps the remainder. The deal represents one of the largest private equity transactions in the European proptech sector in recent years and confirms institutional investor confidence in the resilience of the real estate marketplace model, capable of generating high margins and steady growth even during physical real estate market slowdowns, thanks to the recurring nature of agency subscription revenue.