Dubai's leading real estate portal propertyfinder.ae snaps up full ownership of Lebanon's number one property website realestate.com.lb

23 July 2013, Dubai: propertyfinder.ae – the UAE's leading real estate portal – has announced the 100 per cent acquisition of number one Lebanese portal realestate.com.lb. The move comes hot on the heels of the company successfully raising capital as it continues its expansion across the Middle East region.

The acquisition will enable Lebanese brokers and developers to take advantage of propertyfinder's vast network, which replicates 1.2 million unique browsers per month including the UAE and Saudi Arabia, in addition to realestate.com.lb's huge existing number of online viewers. Additionally, this acquisition will bring unmatched technology and online experience to ultimately generate more leads to brokers and developers in Lebanon.

‘'We see great potential in this portal as Lebanon's residential market continues to thrive with diverse projects being developed for local residents and the large community outside of the country, for whom Lebanon will always be home,'' said Michael Lahyani, propertyfinder.ae Founder & CEO.

“We believe that the current management of realestate.com.lb has done an amazing job with limited resources. This, together with our technological muscle and extensive knowledge of online marketing, means we are confident we can facilitate foreign investment back to the country by exposing the Lebanese property market to a larger global audience.''

Wissam Moubarak, CEO of realestate.com.lb said of the acquisition: "After visiting the propertyfinder.ae head quarters in Dubai, I was very impressed by their technology and level of expertise and am looking forward to applying these to our market and servicing our agents with international standards''.

Renan Bourdeau, propertyfinder.ae Managing Director and Partner added: “This acquisition is part of our larger expansion plan in the Middle East. Lebanon may not be a huge country but there is a lot of advertising spend there so we have identified it as a very important market. Indeed, golden opportunities like this are quite rare in this region so we're very excited.”

Lebanon is one of the few examples worldwide of a country where as much as four times of the population live abroad. The Internet has therefore become the perfect medium to keep these expatriates connected with home and encourage them to invest back in their country. This is helped by the fact that recent years have seen stunning new developments, such as the 20|30 Project and Beirut Marina launch in the Lebanese capital Beirut.