EMPG strengthens executive team

Dubai: Emerging Markets Property Group (EMPG), the Dubai-based unicorn that owns and operates successful homegrown brands Bayut & dubizzle and property verticals and classifieds platforms across MENA, South and Southeast Asia, has announced the appointment of Julien Lafouge as its new Chief Financial Officer, taking responsibility for the management of the group’s global finance operations. Prior to joining EMPG, Lafouge served as the Group CFO of BlaBlaCar.

Julien, who has a proven track record of expertise in Finance, M&A, strategy, entrepreneurship and business development, will be playing a pivotal role in implementing the Group’s expansion and growth strategies.

Under his leadership, BlaBlaCar, the leading digital marketplace for long-distance mobility, concluded and successfully integrated two major acquisitions, in France and Russia, along with other significant business integrations of a smaller scale. During his tenure, BlaBlaCar raised more than $180m and achieved break-even in 2018.

After his MBA at Insead in 2007, Julien pursued a career in Management Consulting, both in Europe and Brazil, where he primarily worked on R&D / Technology strategy and Engineering performance. Julien also holds an MSc in Engineering from Ecole Centrale Paris in France.

“I’m thrilled to join EMPG, which, thanks to its great teams around the world, possesses incredible potential and a very bright future,” Lafouge said. “I’m looking forward to working with the teams in all the countries where EMPG operates and contribute to the growth plans of the company."

CEO of EMPG Imran Ali Khan welcomed Lafouge on board. “Julien has a tremendously successful track record with rapidly scaling enterprises, and we look forward to his addition to EMPG’s senior management as we consolidate our geographical footprint and continue our high-growth journey,” said Khan.

EMPG is the largest classifieds player in its region, with presence in 16 countries and over 5,000 employees. The Group owns and operates property verticals and classifieds platforms in emerging markets, with its market leading brands dubizzle, Bayut, Zameen, OLX (MENA), Bproperty, Mubawab, Kaidee and Lamudi. The group invests heavily in tech and R&D, with dedicated tech centres in Romania, Spain, Pakistan and Thailand.

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About Emerging Markets Property Group (EMPG):

EMPG owns and operates bespoke classifieds portals in emerging markets, primarily in the MENA, South Asia and Southeast Asia regions. The group’s flagship ventures are Bayut.com in the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Jordan, Zameen in Pakistan, Bproperty.com in Bangladesh, Mubawab in Morocco and Tunisia, and Kaidee in Thailand.

We disrupt traditional processes in emerging markets by introducing solutions that make the classifieds experience faster, easier, and simpler. Our competitive advantage comes from the tremendous value we add to the businesses that work with our portals, and the significant ease we provide to end users.

At EMPG, we’re not interested in maintaining the status quo. Our portals in emerging markets completely redefine the way business is done there, and we are especially tuned into the unique requirements of these markets because we are borne of one.

For more information, please visit https://www.empg.com/ 

About Bayut

Bayut is the UAE’s most trusted property website for buying, selling and renting homes. Bayut provides detailed insights, extensive content resources and updated statistics allowing end-users to make the best decision when searching for properties in the UAE.

Since Bayut was established in 2008, the company has seen accelerated growth, increasing not only the number of real estate partners it works with, but also obtaining substantial traffic growth over the past few years. Haider Ali Khan joined Bayut in 2014 as the CEO and the company has continued to showcase very high growth over the past five years including closing multiple rounds of funding from top Venture Capital firms such as Naspers, KCK, Exor, and other notable names. To further expand their reach in this region, Bayut also launched Bayut.sa in 2019, with its headquarters in Riyadh. 

Bayut is a part of the Emerging Markets Property Group (EMPG) which also operates the largest property classified sites in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Morocco. In April 2020, the group merged with the Netherlands-based OLX group in certain key markets, and was valued at $1 Billion, giving it the coveted unicorn status. The group now also owns and operates Dubizzle in the UAE, OLX Pakistan, OLX Egypt and OLX Lebanon, in addition to several other OLX platforms in the broader Middle East region including Bahrain, Oman, Kuwait and Qatar.

About dubizzle:

dubizzle is the leading classifieds platform for users in the United Arab Emirates. Since its launch in 2005, dubizzle has become the number one platform for users to buy, sell, or find anything in their community. A community where underused goods are redistributed to fill a new need, and become wanted again, where non-product assets such as space, skills, and money are exchanged and traded in new ways that don’t always require centralized institutions or ‘middlemen’.

For further information, please contact:
Khalid Yahya
PR & Communications Manager
Khalid.Yahya@Bayut.com
Khalid.Yahya@dubizzle.com 

© Press Release 2021