Property Finder, a Dubai-based company, raised $90 million in debt from Francisco Partners to assist in funding the acquisition of its first institutional investor, indicating ongoing foreign interest in the booming real estate market in the United Arab Emirates.
The regional venture capital firm BECO Capital, which had invested in the now-owned Careem ride-hailing app and the now-defunct logistics startup Fetchr, repurchased its stake in the online real estate platform. The agreement, according to Property Finder, enables BECO to leave “with a strong return on its investment.” It provided no information.
“We’ve seen tremendous growth in the real estate market across the entire UAE, not just Dubai,” said Michael Lahyani, chief executive officer and founder of Property Finder.
With a $1 billion valuation, the business joins the small but growing group of Middle Eastern unicorns, according to Lahyani.
In the wake of COVID, Dubai’s real estate market has exploded, partly because of the government’s initiatives to facilitate the establishment of wealthy individuals’ presence in the emirate. Its growth was different from other global major markets.
According to Lahyani of Property Finder, the domestic market is poised for a soft landing as prices begin to level off.
“A real estate market that grows at 50% is not going to be sustainable for the long run, and everybody knows that,” Lahyani said. “What we’re seeing right now is a transition from a hyper growth market to a market that is going to continue to grow but in a more sustainable way,” he said.
Property Finder was founded in 2007 with the goal of profiting from Dubai’s rapidly expanding real estate market. In 2018, General Atlantic provided funding. It faces competition from other classified websites like Dubizzle and Bayut, whose parent company is supported by Jared Kushner’s investment firm, Affinity Partners, which is owned by Donald Trump’s son-in-law.
Property Finder now operates in more countries in the region, such as Egypt, Bahrain, and Qatar. Its current priorities are growing its market shares in Turkey and Saudi Arabia.
Property Finder received advice on the debt deal from JPMorgan & Chase Co. and White & Case. This is Francisco Partners’ first investment of this kind in the United Arab Emirates.
