Badi and Caterina merge to create Spain’s leading flex living platform

Badi and Caterina have announced their merger to create one of Spain’s most comprehensive flex living platforms. Once completed, the transaction will integrate the corporate living, co-living and flexible stay business lines within a single technology ecosystem, with more than €250 million in assets under management, a plan to exceed 7,000 operational units over the next four years, and a growth strategy focused on Madrid, Barcelona and Valencia through partnerships with institutional investors and new asset management models. 

The company will combine two highly complementary platforms. Badi brings one of Spain’s leading digital residential brands, a strong user base, a marketplace with high organic traffic and proprietary technology developed over recent years. Caterina, meanwhile, contributes proven operational leadership, extensive experience in managing entire buildings and long-term relationships with leading national and international companies. 

This operational base will be complemented by Badi’s marketplace, which has more than 5 million registered users and 350,000 monthly active users looking for flexible rental products across Spain’s cities: students, professionals and companies that will act as an engine of organic demand for the platform. 

Following the merger, the group aims to become the partner of choice for institutional funds and family offices seeking to deploy capital in Spain’s living sector. The company will structure products tailored to each type of investor, from transactions starting at €5 million to developments of more than €50 million, across formats such as entire flex living buildings, large-scale co-living projects and other living segments. In addition, the company will channel new investor inflows and divestments across the assets under management, providing liquidity and portfolio rotation within the platform itself. 

The transaction, which is currently being processed, will be accompanied by a capital increase led by Barlon Capital and Meridia. The proceeds will be used to strengthen the in-house team so that it can cover the full investment cycle in flex living and co-living. Investors will have a single partner from sourcing through to day-to-day asset management. The capital increase will also support technology development and the onboarding of new assets and institutional clients. 

For Meridia, Caterina’s reference shareholder since 2023, the transaction represents the next step in the company’s evolution, transforming a specialised corporate living operator into a platform with greater scale, new commercial capabilities and a strengthened position from which to grow alongside institutional capital. 

Carlos Pierre and Álvaro Córdoba, founders of Badi, will lead the new company. Alongside them, Meridia and Barlon Capital, reference shareholders of Caterina and Badi respectively, will contribute a distinctive combination of investment experience, technological capabilities and expertise in scaling high-growth companies, complementing the Caterina team’s deep operational know-how in asset and tenant management, as well as its relationships with corporate and institutional investors. 

Javier Faus Morros, Asset Management at Meridia and board member of the resulting company, said: “The transaction combines two highly complementary platforms. Badi brings a strong B2C brand, organic demand from its marketplace and proprietary technology, while Caterina contributes first-class B2B operations, extensive experience in managing entire buildings and established relationships with leading corporates.” 

Javier Rubió, founder of Barlon Capital, reference shareholder of Badi, said: “The combination of Badi’s platform — its brand, demand and data — with Caterina’s operational expertise and a renowned partner such as Meridia lays the foundations for scaling to thousands of beds and positioning the group as the strategic partner in Spain for institutional funds seeking to invest in the living sector.” 

Carlos Pierre, co-founder and CEO of Badi, added: “With this transaction, we are creating a unique platform in the Spanish market, capable of offering owners, companies and institutional investors an end-to-end solution for the sector. The combination of proprietary technology, operational capabilities and real estate expertise places us in a privileged position to support investors focused on the Spanish market.” 

Manuel Vidal-Quadras, co-founder of Caterina, commented: “This transaction represents the next step in Caterina’s evolution, transforming a specialised corporate living operator into a platform with greater scale and the new commercial capabilities brought by Carlos and the Badi team.”