ZPG buys share in Dubai-based Propertyfinder portal

ZPG has made a surprise investment in Dubai-based property portal owner Propertyfinder Group (PFG) for an undisclosed sum, giving it a door into the global property market in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. PFG is a parent company of seven property websites across the region including the UAE, Qatar, Lebanon, Egypt, Morocco, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. PFG was started up in 2005 by US businessman Michael Lahyani (pictured, left) and through both acquisition and growth was recently valued at $200 million following a $20m investment by a Bermuda-based but Russian company called Vostock. The deal, which was announced last year, was described by Lahyani at the time as enabling the company to become the biggest online real estate “destination” in the MENA region. But although Lahyani describes himself as the founder, PFG’s UAE website was originally 51%-owned by Australia’s REA Group before being sold off when the company pulled out of what had been early attempts at a global property portal empire. Lahyani started a magazine in Dubai called Al Bab World which was later bought by REA and then turned into the Propertyfinder.ae website. At the time during the mid-to-late noughties the REA network included sites in Italy,…