Adevinta Breakup Incoming in Spain? Yes, Internal Sources Tell Spanish Newspaper

Rumours of a big Adevinta breakup have gained further momentum with El Nacional reporting that new owners Permira and Blackstone want to grow and sell their Spanish marketplaces before 2030.

Workers at Adevinta Spain have told the newspaper supplement On Economia that new management wants to double their money in five years and is already working on decoupling Adevinta's Spanish assets ahead of eventual sales.

According to On Economia's report, three internal sources said that Adevinta's new strategy under Permira and Blackstone is no longer about growing aggressively throughout Europe but, conversely, slowly divesting as assets reach certain valuations.

"Adevinta wants to achieve a 100% return on the invested capital in the next five years", said On Economia. "From the new management they would have the purpose of making each marketplace independent of the central structure to have the flexibility to sell each part in private transactions or take them public:" [Translated from Spanish]

For example, the likes of Fotocasa would become an independent unit and be available for acquisition without the added complication of a buyer having to acquire other Adevinta Spain assets like Habitaclia, Coches.net, and Infojobs in the same transaction. In other words, Adevinta's €13 billion steak is set to be cut into bite-sized pieces and sold to the highest bidder.

One source told On Economia:

"[At the beginning] They didn't tell us anything, we didn't know what was happening and the feeling of uncertainty was enormous.

"[But now] Management is asking us for many things, more than usual."

Adevinta recorded revenues of circa €1.8 billion in 2023, with Adevinta España closing out the year with revenues of €230 million, up 6% from 2022. In its final public filing in May 2024, Adevinta's quarterly revenues hit a record €480 million, at an EBITDA of €165 million.

Adevinta España employs around 1000 people and is headquartered in Barcelona. Meanwhile, Fotocasa has been officially renamed Adevinta Real Estate SLU.

It has been all change at Adevinta since the takeover.

In Ireland, market-leading real estate portal Daft.ie (partly owned by Adevinta) is in discussions about its future structure, while it has also been reported that CEO Antoine Jouteau has been ousted in favour of Permira and Blackstone favourite Jacob Fonnesbech Aqraou.

Adevinta has also hired a new strategy development lead for Real Estate, promoting Irénée Berthet from within after six years at Adevinta's French classifieds market leader Leboncoin.