It was recently reported in The National that Emerging Markets Property Group (EMPG) has received $150 million in new investment from the world-famous OLX Group. This puts the valuation of the company at $1 billion, helping it to spread its reach even further around the world. One of the main interests of the growing business is the well-known property portal, Bayut, which operates in Dubai and other cities in the United Arab Emirates. Could this mean that even more money and investments will be pumped into the market in the UAE city? And what does this deal mean for EMPG moving forward?
OLX Extends Its Global Reach
This massive new deal was led by the Netherlands-based OLX Group, which is rapidly extending its global reach by entering the fastest growing markets in the world. The company founded in 2006 by Fabrice Grinda and Alex Oxenford is an online marketplace which first came about as an alternative to Craigslist. It now has over 200 million active users and 8.5 million transactions per month.
Despite operating in various countries, EMPG is strategically located in Dubai, one of the most thriving markets in the world. Now OLX will partner up with EMPG as a way to break into this prosperous sector as well. Thanks to this deal, OLX now owns 39 percent of shares in EMPG, becoming its largest single shareholder.
Chief Executive of OLX Group, Martin Scheepbouwer, said that having such a controlling share in EMPG allowed his company to take a front seat in exploring how they can scale its business model further. The money from this deal will be used to enhance existing services in EMPG’s retail platforms. The company plans to enhance its user experience, by allowing for more data transparency.
How Will This Improve EMPG’s Dubai Interests?
EMPG’s main interest in Dubai is the privately owned property portal Bayut. Since its inception in 2008, the company has become an important real-estate provider in the country. Its comprehensive lists of property for rent shows that a studio apartment in Dubai can be affordable, but there are also luxury options at the other end of the pricing scale.
With the investment from OLX Group, EMPG has already stated that it is going to refine its real-estate business. The current website already allows users to specify a number of parameters when searching for an apartment or house, but new technology could be used to enhance that experience further and help people find the homes that fit their needs perfectly. This will be done through expanding market intelligence for consumers and business users.
The merger between EMPG and OLX has given the former company unicorn status according to Deal Street Asia. The extra funding will give it the resources needed to improve its services massively. This deal will also cause a number of other huge businesses to look to Dubai as a place with a lot of potential for investments. The booming market there has a vast number of lucrative opportunities.