JRD Group owns property portal JustProperty.com and Propspace, a broker CRM solution
Highlights:
- Property Finder signs agreement to acquire JRD Group
- Acquisition follows a $120 million investment by General Atlantic in Property Finder in November 2018
- Decision comes close on the heels of Property Finder increasing its stake to circa 40% in Turkish property portal Zingat
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, April 8, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Middle East real estate classifieds website Property Finder has signed an agreement to acquire its competitor JRD Group, a UAE-based real estate technology provider, owner of property portal Justproperty.com and Propspace, a prominent broker CRM solution used by real estate professionals.
Michael Lahyani, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Property Finder, said: "Property Finder and JRD Group share the same consumer-centric philosophy and vision of further professionalising the real estate market. The integration of our products and additional investment in JustProperty.com will provide consumers with better insights to support them in taking property buying or renting decisions."
The acquisition will also provide real estate professionals with new exciting opportunities and enable them to reach a larger audience and a broader offering of CRM, property management solutions and listing portals.
This acquisition happens only a few months after the investment by General Atlantic in Property Finder in November 2018 and is in line with the Group's strategy to expand the brand in the UAE and invest in building the best products and data information available.
Alex Nicholas and Siddharth Singh, JRD Group Founders, will stay on board and become shareholders of Property Finder.
"This is a great outcome for us after 10 years of hard work. We believe sharing synergies will offer coherence and integration in our combined tech offerings to real estate brokers and developers. We are super excited about this opportunity to enable JRD Group to develop its enterprise software products and property portals further and reach a much larger audience through the Property Finder Group network," said Nicholas, co-founder and CEO of JRD Group.
As part of the acquisition, iMENA Group will fully exit its investment in JRD Group. Khaldoon Tabaza, Founder & Managing Director of iMENA Group, said: "We are happy with the outcome of our investment in JRD Group, which further validates our thesis on the potential and ability of our region to create scalable online marketplace businesses to lead the digitalization of the key sectors of the regional economy."
This transaction comes one week after Property Finder announced increasing its stake in Zingat (the 2nd largest property portal in Turkey) to close to 40% and is expected to close after customary conditions have been met.
About Property Finder – www.propertyfinder.ae
Property Finder is the leading digital real estate platform in the Middle East and North Africa region that facilitates the house hunting journey for both buyers and renters. Founded in 2007, the website has evolved over the years as the go-to platform for developers, real estate brokerages and house hunters to make informed decisions on all things real estate.
A UAE-born startup, Property Finder has branched out of the country's shores and operates in a total of seven markets, including Qatar, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Egypt and Morocco, and has a significant stake in the second largest property portal in Turkey. Property Finder generates over six million monthly visits as a Group.
US private equity firm General Atlantic led Property Finder's latest round of investment of a total of $120 million in 2018. This is being used to hire further exceptional talent and investing in its technology and product capabilities.
The property portal employs over 450 employees globally, of which 204 people work out of its Dubai office.
About JRD Group – www.jrdgroup.com
JRD Group was founded in 2008 by Alex Nicholas and Siddharth Singh as a software enterprise dedicated passionately to innovating real estate technology. Based in Dubai, JRD Group owns and operates real estate portals across the MENA region under the JustProperty.com umbrella and a proprietary enterprise real estate software platform - PropSpace.com - for brokers, property managers and developers.
About iMENA Group – www.imena.com
iMENA Group is an investment company focused on Internet businesses in the Middle East and North Africa region. iMENA was founded in 2013 by Khaldoon Tabaza and Adey Salamin, and owns stakes in leading regional online classifieds and marketplace businesses including OpenSooq.com, SellAnyCar.com, ReserveOut, Telr, and Jeeny.
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