Private Equity Firm Cinven Takes the Lead in €3Bn Idealista Tug-Of-War

London-based, private equity firm Cinven has reportedly signed an exclusivity agreement to acquire Idealista for an estimated €3 billion. The news was reported by local media outlet Expansión last week quoting "several market sources".

The Spanish portal has been rumoured to be up for sale for at least a year, with multiple parties including General Atlantic, ImmoScout and CoStar Group namedropped as potential suitors.

Idealista—which holds outright market leadership positions in Spain and Portugal, and is also embroiled in a tight race for market leadership in Italy—is currently majority-owned by EQT (55%), Apax (16%) and Oakley Capital (11.6%).

Cinven is an international private equity firm with over 140 investments across multiple sectors.

Cinven's marketplace experience includes the leading Polish marketplace operator Allegro, which it took a stake in in January 2017, and RB Iberia—a franchise operator with a significant restaurant footprint in Spain, Portugal, Gibraltar and Andorra.

If the deal goes ahead at the price being mentioned, Idealista would have more than doubled in value since 2020, when EQT purchased its majority stake in the business for an estimated €1.3 billion.

Idealista refinanced €300 million of debt in January 2024 as it prepared for an acquisition.