OLX buys GrupoZap – Brazil’s largest property portal

Grupo Zap, Brazil’s leading property portal, has been acquired by OLX Brazil, the 50/50 joint venture between Adevinta ASA and Prosus NV, for approximately R$ 2.9 billion (US$642 million). The investment will be equally financed by OLX Brazil’s two existing shareholders.

With Grupo ZAP, OLX Brazil will be able to offer its users more than 12 million listings from more than 40,000 real estate agencies and thousands of private listers, as well as allowing its advertisers to reach a larger audience.

In 2018, Grupo ZAP had net revenues of R$ 217 million (US$48 million) and EBITDA of R$ -18 million (US$ -3.9 million), with an average of 28 million visits per month in 2019.

Andries Oudshoorn, CEO of OLX Brazil, says: “OLX Brazil and Grupo ZAP are at the forefront of helping players along the Real Estate value chain become more digital. The transaction will boost OLX Brazil’s capabilities to drive innovation and develop a superior customer experience, ultimately making buying, selling and renting real estate in Brazil much safer, simpler and more efficient for all players involved."

Rolv Erik Ryssdal, CEO of Adevinta, comments: “Expanding in territories where we see significant growth opportunities is a key pillar of Adevinta’s strategy. The large Brazilian real estate market has low penetration of online listings and is poised for a migration to digital.”

The transaction coincides with a period of high growth for online advertising. According to the IAB (Interactive Advertising Bureau) Brazil, in 2018 the industry represented an estimated investment of R$ 16.1 billion (US$3.5 million), with online classifieds forming just 10% of that. As the real estate industry is moving quickly from offline to online, boosted by low interest rates - online advertising is set to make significant gains. These gains look to be particularly substantial for online classifieds, as real estate classifieds platforms grow in popularity and traffic. In addition, with the real estate industry still to reach the maturity levels seen in other markets, there is plenty of opportunity for high-value growth overall.

The transaction is subject to approval by Brazil’s Antitrust Agency (CADE) and other customary closing conditions. Closing is expected in the second half of 2020.