Mubadala Joins #Dubai Property Portal’s $170 Million Fundraise - Bloomberg

Mubadala Joins Dubai Property Portal’s $170 Million Fundraise - Bloomberg

Dubai-based Property Finder has raised $170 million from investors in the United Arab Emirates, bringing total funding for the classifieds website over recent months to nearly $1 billion.

Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala Investment Co. will invest $75 million, while BECO Capital will allocate $20 million, Property Finder said in a statement. Another unidentified wealth fund will provide the remaining funding, the firm said, without disclosing the name.

“As a UAE company, we find it very important to welcome local investors,” Michael Lahyani, founder and chief executive officer of Property Finder, said in an interview. “And we wanted to make room for them even though we didn’t really need to raise more capital.”

The latest funding comes after a $525 million investment in September from private equity firms Permira and Blackstone. Weeks later, it secured $250 million of debt from Ares Management.

Real estate businesses in the Gulf, particularly in Dubai, have drawn increasing foreign capital as the emirate has emerged as a hub for tourism and corporate activity. That’s a sharp contrast from before, when global asset managers largely treated the region as a source of capital rather than a destination for investment.

Lahyani said the company, which operates in five markets across the Gulf, still expects the biggest upside to be in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, where it has grown 30% in the past five years.

Dubai’s property market was among the world’s best performers last year, extending the longest real estate rally in its history despite warnings about oversupply and bubble risks.

Founded about two decades ago, Property Finder competes with classified platforms Dubizzle Ltd., which postponed its initial public offering last year, and Bayut, which is backed by Jared Kushner’s Affinity Partners.

Property Finder is not currently considering an IPO, Lahyani said.

“You need a minimum size before you can IPO a business,” he said. “It’s potentially dangerous to IPO a business sub-scale.”