ⓘ Featured image: Martin Scheepbouwer (L), CEO of OLX Group; Imran Ali Khan (R), CEO of EMPG
▸ EMPG is now valued at $1 billion after raising $150 million
Dubai’s online classified group Emerging Markets Property Group (EMPG) and Amsterdam-based OLX Group have recently announced a merger in Pakistan, Egypt, Lebanon, and the UAE. The agreement encloses a $150 million investment round led by OLX Group along with existing EMPG shareholders which now value EMPG at $1 billion – signifying its unicorn status.
OLX Group will contribute into the operations in the 4 said countries – becoming EMPG’s largest shareholder, holding 30 percent stake in the company.
As mentioned in a press statement earlier, EMPG will utilise the fresh capital to develop a range of new services, creating a more seamless user experience, enhancing data transparency and deepening market intelligence for both consumers and business users.
As a part of the deal, EMPG will operate the existing OLX platform in Egypt and Lebanon, launch new services for the real estate community and offer better experience to the consumers across different categories. In Pakistan and UAE, both EMPG and OLX’s platforms will operated by EMPG.
The deal signals a huge opportunity for EMPG as the aggregated value of properties sold in the four markets is estimated at $90 billion – providing a commission pool for real estate agencies of over $2 billion per annum.
Commenting over the deal, Imran Ali Khan, CEO of EMPG in a statement said,
“EMPG has grown at a tremendous pace since its inception. Our unique ability to scale using our proprietary tech has aided and enabled this expansion. This deal puts us one step further in our journey towards providing solutions in multiple markets to over a billion consumers around the world, expanding our classifieds offering significantly.”
Sharing the ground of the merger and his vision, Martin Scheepbouwer, CEO of OLX Group, said,
“I’m proud of what we have built in these four markets. Our brands are household names, and currently help tens of millions of people to exchange goods and services every month. The next phase is an exciting one, with EMPG’s real estate industry expertise helping deepen the customer experience. As EMPG’s largest shareholder, we’ll have a front seat to explore how we can scale their services model further – taking our ambition to shape the future of classifieds into its next stage.”
A little more about EMPG
The Dubai headquartered EMPG that operates a number of real estate portals in MENA (Middle East & North Africa) and South Asia regions including Mubawab (Morocco); Jumia House, that operates in Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman; Bayut (UAE); Zameen.com (Pakistan); and Bproperty (Bangladesh).
EMPG last year raised $100 million in a Series D round led by KCK Group to expand into diverse domains including life sciences, energy and industrial technologies. EMPG acquired Mubawab in 2018 and injected $7 million in it in January 2020. Mubawab acquired Jumia’s property portal, Jumia House, back in June 2019. Recently, EMPG acquired Thai’s largest online marketplace Kaidee.
