Clearwater has advised Abénex on the acquisition of a minority stake in digital property platform Proprietes-privees.com, the umbrella brand of the Oryx Group, alongside its two directors, and Tikehau Capital.
Proprietes-privees.com has raised €100m and brought two shareholders, Abénex, a historical player in the French private equity market and Tikehau Capital, the global alternative asset management group, to enable the group to pursue its growth development plan across France and worldwide. Within this new structure, the management team of Oryx Group holds a majority shareholder position and sets new ambitious objectives.
Oryx Group operates a digital platform that efficiently connects supply, demand and talent in the real estate property market. The company is built around a major independent real estate consultant network, proprietes-privees.com, and was reinforced with two complementary networks, immoreseau and Rezoximo, acquired in 2017 and 2018, respectively.
Since Michel Le Bras and Christine Cadrot took over the management of Oryx Group and Proprietes-privees.com in 2016, the turnover has increased tenfold and reached €75m at the end of 2021, with an average annual growth rate of 35%. Their objective was to become one of the top three real estate agent networks and in December 2021, Oryx Group’s flagship brand, Proprietes-privees.com, became the third-largest network of real estate agents in France, and one of the fastest-growing players in digital innovation.
This transaction will allow the Group to reach new objectives: to accelerate its development and reach €300m in turnover within five years particularly through upscaling its technological platform that will enable the Group’s consultants to maintain their competitive position in the market. The Group’s international presence is also part of its mid-term development plan which looks to take advantage of the strong growth of selected property markets outside France.
