Apax VIII announces the sale of idealista

The Apax VIII Fund (“Apax VIII”), in which Apax Global Alpha Limited (“AGA”) is a limited partner, has announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to sell its stake in idealista, the leading online real estate platform in Spain, Italy and Portugal, to the EQT IX fund (“EQT IX”) for a transaction value of €1.3 billion. 

AGA, whose shares are listed on the London Stock Exchange, provides investors with access to the investment expertise of Apax Partners through its investments in a diversified portfolio of private equity funds advised by Apax Partners, as well as derived investments in debt and equity. In 2012, AGA’s predecessor vehicle made a commitment of c.€345m1 to Apax VIII.

AGA will release its results to 30 September 2020 on 4 November 2020.

Funds advised by Apax Partners sell their stake in idealista

Funds advised by Apax Partners (the “Apax Funds”) today announced that they have agreed to sell their stake in idealista, the leading online real estate platform in Spain, Italy and Portugal, to the EQT IX fund (“EQT IX”) for a transaction value of €1.3 billion.

Founded in 2000 and headquartered in Madrid, Spain, idealista supports approximately 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 enable efficient real estate transactions, making it a key destination for prospective homeowners and sellers.

Since 2015, the Apax Funds have supported idealista and its co-founders, Jesus Encinar, Fernando Encinar and Cesar Oteiza, through extensive investment in the company’s technology and operations, growing the business from c.300 employees to more than 750 today, and building it in to the region’s leading digital real-estate platform.

Over the course of the Apax Funds’ ownership, idealista has increased traffic by more than 4x, including a dramatic shift to mobile devices. This expansion has in turn driven a three-fold rise in revenues since 2015. Apax’s strong advisor network allowed it to further strengthen the Company’s board with the addition of Ed Williams, ex-CEO of Rightmove and Chairman of Autotrader, in 2016 and Marc Stilke, former CEO of ImmobilienScout24, in 2019.

The Apax Funds have a strong track record of investing in online marketplace businesses throughout Europe North America and Asia, and have invested over €3 billion of equity in 11 companies that operate some of the world’s leading online marketplaces for real estate, automotive and consumer financial products. Other digital marketplace investments by the Apax Funds include AutoTrader (UK), SouFun, TradeMe and Baltic Classifieds Group.

Tom Hall, Partner at Apax Partners, 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. As 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. We wish Jesus and the team all the very best with EQT, who we believe will be excellent partners for them in the years ahead.”

Jesus Encinar, founder and CEO of idealista: “It has been a pleasure to work alongside the team at Apax Partners. Since 2015, their expert knowledge in online marketplaces and ability to realise the growth opportunity for idealista has propelled the company to its leading position today. Their experience and commitment to long-term management of the companies in which they invest has resulted in a fantastic and hugely successful partnership, and one for which I am truly grateful.”

The transaction remains subject to regulatory approvals.

The Apax Funds were advised by Evercore Inc. (acting as exclusive financial adviser to Apax and idealista) and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett (legal advisers).

Contact details

Investor enquiries
Lorraine Rees
Investor Relations – AGA
Telephone: +44 (0)20 7872 6381
Email: lorraine.rees@apax.com

Footnotes

1. Represents AGA’s commitment of €159.6m in Apax VIII euro tranche and $218.4m in Apax VIII USD tranche translated to euro based on the Bloomberg closing EUR/USD FX rate on 9 September 2020 of 1.1803

Notes

1. Note that references in this announcement to Apax Global Alpha Limited have been abbreviated to “AGA” or “the Company”. References to Apax Partners LLP have been abbreviated to “Apax Partners” or “the Investment Adviser”

2. Please be advised that this announcement may contain inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulations (EU) NO. 596/2014 (“MAR”)

3. This announcement is not for release, publication or distribution, directly or indirectly, in whole or in part, into or within the United States or to “US persons” (as defined in Regulation S under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”)) or into or within Australia, Canada, South Africa or Japan. Recipients of this announcement in jurisdictions outside the UK should inform themselves about and observe any applicable legal requirements in their jurisdictions. In particular, the distribution of the announcement may be restricted by law in certain jurisdictions

4. The information presented herein is not an offer for sale within the United States of any equity shares or other securities of Apax Global Alpha Limited (“AGA”). AGA has not been and will not be registered under the US Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “Investment Company Act”). In addition, AGA’s shares (the “Shares”) have not been and will not be registered under the Securities Act or any other applicable law of the United States. Consequently, the Shares may not be offered or sold or otherwise transferred within the United States, or to, or for the account or benefit of, US Persons, except pursuant to an exemption from the registration requirements of the Securities Act and under circumstances which will not require AGA to register under the Investment Company Act. No public offering of the Shares is being made in the United States

5. This announcement may include forward-looking statements. The words “expect”, “anticipate”, “intends”, “plan”, “estimate”, “aim”, “forecast”, “project” and similar expressions (or their negative) identify certain of these forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are statements regarding AGA’s intentions, beliefs or current expectations concerning, among other things, AGA’s results of operations, financial condition, liquidity, prospects, growth and strategies. The forward-looking statements in this presentation are based on numerous assumptions regarding AGA’s present and future business strategies and the environment in which AGA will operate in the future. Forward-looking statements involve inherent known and unknown risks, uncertainties and contingencies because they relate to events and depend on circumstances that may or may not occur in the future and may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of AGA to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward looking statements. Many of these risks and uncertainties relate to factors that are beyond AGA’s ability to control or estimate precisely, such as future market conditions, currency fluctuations, the behaviour of other market participants, the actions of regulators and other factors such as AGA’s ability to continue to obtain financing to meet its liquidity needs, changes in the political, social and regulatory framework in which AGA operates or in economic or technological trends or conditions. Past performance should not be taken as an indication or guarantee of future results, and no representation or warranty, express or implied, is made regarding future performance. AGA expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to release any updates or revisions to these forward-looking statements to reflect any change in AGA’s expectations with regard thereto or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any statement is based after the date of this announcement, or to update or to keep current any other information contained in this announcement. Accordingly, undue reliance should not be placed on the forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this announcement.

About Apax Global Alpha Limited

AGA is a Guernsey registered closed-ended collective investment scheme incorporated as a non-cellular company that listed on the London Stock Exchange on 15 June 2015. It is regulated by the Guernsey Financial Services Commission.

AGA’s objective is to provide shareholders with capital appreciation from its investment portfolio and regular dividends. The Company is targeting an annualised Total Return, across economic cycles, of 12-15% (net of fees and expenses) including a dividend yield of 5% of Net Asset Value.

The investment policy of the Company is to make Private Equity investments in Apax Funds, and Derived Investments which are investments in equities and debt derived from the insights gained via Apax Partners’ Private Equity activities.

Further information regarding the Company and its publications are available on the Company’s website at www.apaxglobalalpha.com.

About Apax Partners LLP

Apax Partners LLP (“Apax Partners”) is a leading global private equity advisory firm and over its more than 40-year history, Apax Partners has raised and advised funds with aggregate commitments of over €40 billion.  Funds advised by Apax Partners invest in companies across four global sectors of Tech & Telco, Services, Healthcare and Consumer. These funds provide long_term equity financing to build and strengthen world_class companies.

For further information about Apax Partners, please visit www.apax.com. Apax Partners is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority in the UK.