LONDON (ShareCast) - (Sharecast News) - Oakley Capital Investments announced on Monday that Oakley Capital Private Equity Fund III has reached an agreement to sell a majority stake in atHome Group, an online classifieds and mortgage broking business in Luxembourg, to UK-based buyout and growth capital investor Mayfair Equity Partners.
The London-listed specialist fund said that, following the transaction, Fund III would retain a minority stake in the business.

It said Fund III originally invested in atHome in 2017, as part of the acquisition of a portfolio of classifieds businesses, which consisted of Casa.it in Italy and atHome.lu in Luxembourg.

Under Oakley's ownership, atHome consolidated its leading market position in its core property classifieds market, while expanding into mortgage broking and automotive classifieds through strategic bolt-on acquisitions.

Over the three years of Oakley's investment, atHome increased EBITDA by over 80%, with its websites among the most visited in Luxembourg.

Oakley said its share of proceeds from this transaction would be around ?15m, with the sale representing an uplift of 3p to the company's net asset value per share at 31 December.

Following the transaction, Fund III would retain its stake in Casa, which was still benefiting from growth in the Italian online property classifieds sector, as well as a minority stake in atHome.

The partnership with Mayfair and the existing management team would allow Fund III to participate in the future growth of atHome, as it continued to expand on its offering to consumers and customers, and deliver growth across its core property, mortgage and automotive verticals.

"We would like to thank Soufiane Saadi and his team for their hard work in developing the atHome Group over the past three years," said Oakley Capital managing partner Peter Dubens.

"We very much look forward to working with them, and with Mayfair, to drive further growth in the future."

At 1141 GMT, shares in Oakley Capital Investments were down 1.43% at 275p.

Email this article to a friend

or share it with one of these popular networks:

• DIGG
• FACEBOOK
• STUMBLEUPON
• MIXX
• YAHOO BUZZ
• DELICIOUS
• REDDIT
• NEWSVINE