Dubai’s Property Finder acquires rival JRD Group

Dubai-based real estate portal Property Finder has announced plans to acquire its UAE-based competitor JRD Group, which owns property portal Justproperty.com and Propspace, a broker CRM solution.

The financial value of the transaction was not disclosed.

The transaction comes a few months US private equity firm General Atlantic led Property Finder’s $120m investment round in November 2018 and is in line with the group’s strategy to expand the brand in the UAE, a statement said.

JRD Group founders Alex Nicholas and Siddharth Singh will stay and become shareholders of Property Finder.

Michael Lahyani, founder and CEO of Property Finder, said the move will further “professionalise 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,” he said.

As part of the acquisition, iMENA Group will fully exit its investment in JRD Group.

The transaction comes one week after Property Finder announced plans to hike its stake in Turkish property portal Zingat to close to 40 per cent. The deal is expected to close after customary conditions have been met.

Founded in 2007, Property Finder operates in seven markets, including Qatar, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Egypt and Morocco.