UK private equity firm Apax Partners has signed an agreement to acquire the Israeli second-hand market site Yad2 from US private equity firm KKR for $950 million, "Globes" has learned.
The Yad2 website has become one of the main sites for real estate deals in Israel. Despite its initial role in brokering second-hand transactions, it has become a source of information mainly on real estate transactions. Its operations were and remain privately owned by foreign investment funds and it has never been listed on the stock exchange.
The transaction was carried for Apax, by its representative in Israel, Zehavit Cohen, who was believed to be a major part of the success of the negotiations. Apax beat private investment funds Blackstone and CVC in bidding for Yad2. In 2014, Walla sold Yad2 to the German publisher Axel Springer for NIS 806 million, since which time the value of the site has almost quadrupled after KKR bought control of the company. Apax had previously tried to acquire the site but lost out to Axel Springer.
No comment has been forthcoming from Apax.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on December 1, 2025.
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