The board of directors of idealista, the leading real estate market place in Spain, Italy, and Portugal, has decided not to move forward with the acquisition of Portal47 Ltd – the company that operates Kyero, a website for buyers looking for properties in Spain, France, Italy, and Portugal. The acquisition was announced almost a year ago, in December 2024, and was pending authorisation by the competition authorities in Spain and Portugal.
idealista had been negotiating with the Spanish authority for several months in an effort to find a reasonable solution to soften the CNMC’s demands, which went beyond the scope of the transaction and disproportionately restricted idealista’s commercial activity, preventing it from operating normally in the market. These negotiations caused a material delay in closing the deal, which harmed the interests of both parties, who have now decided to withdraw from the transaction.
“We cannot rule out that the CNMC sought to use the acquisition of a smaller portal as a pretext to regulate idealista’s commercial strategy in the future, whether or not it was related to Kyero,” said a company spokesperson, who added that the handling of this case by the competition authority and its abrupt conclusion sends a discouraging message for the growth of European technology companies. “At times, the rigidity of EU competition authorities ends up favoring the growth of non-European companies in Europe at the expense of tech firms born within the EU.”
The company also calls for reflection on hyper-regulation in Europe: "It does not seem reasonable that, in aspiring to a single European market that competes with other global markets, there are 52 competition authorities at national and regional level. Just to compare, in the US there are only two competent authorities: the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) and the DOJ (Department of Justice).”
Mario Draghi, former Italian Prime Minister and former President of the European Central Bank, pointed out in his report on the future of European competitiveness just a year ago that regulatory fragmentation in Europe, slow authorisation processes and the lack of scale in the single market prevent European companies from competing with US and Asian giants. He also stressed the need to review EU policy to allow the creation of European champions, especially in strategic sectors such as technology. ‘Unfortunately, Draghi was right in his diagnosis and there is no optimistic future for the European technology sector,’ idealista said.
idealista acquires Kyero
idealista, the leading real estate marketplace in Spain, Portugal, and Italy, has signed an agreement to acquire Kyero, a prominent real estate website for international buyers looking for homes in Spain, France, Italy, and Portugal. The total acquisition amount has not been disclosed, in accordance with the decision of the management boards of both companies.