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Private equity giants Permira and Blackstone have acquired a stake in UAE classifieds business Property Finder for $525 million, the latest sign of rising global investor interest for deals in the Gulf.
The investment is also a vote of confidence that Dubai’s real estate boom will continue, Property Finder Chief Executive Officer Michael Lahyani told Semafor. The deal shows that the real estate market is “mainly driven by population growth” and not speculation, he said.
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Permira, which is making its first investment in the Middle East, and Blackstone are acquiring part of General Atlantic’s stake in Property Finder, which it bought in 2018. The transaction values the company, which operates the region’s largest online property classifieds business, at around $2 billion, according to people familiar with the deal.
Property Finder is also likely to seek a public listing in future, Lahyani said. “I don’t have a date in mind to take this business public, but I’m confident it will,” he said.
UK-based Permira established its presence in Dubai this year, joining rivals including Brookfield and Warburg Pincus that have been adding staff or raising funds dedicated to investing in the Middle East. Private equity firms have been building up operations in the region in response to requests from Gulf sovereign wealth funds that want to see big asset managers shift from just taking money out of the region to investing in it.
Global Infrastructure Partners, part of BlackRock, led an $11 billion deal to acquire leasing rights for assets related to Saudi Aramco’s Jafurah gas field in August, while KKR & Co. said in January it was acquiring a stake in Gulf Data Hub, which builds data centers.