11:39 am, February 15, 2019
ONLINE auction website eBay has completed its purchase of Motors.co.uk from Cox Automotive after the Competition and Markets Authority approved the sale.
On Tuesday, the CMA said it had approved the deal, four months after the brands initially made the announcement.
It was revealed on October 19, 2018 that eBay would be acquiring the car classifieds website from Cox Automotive if the deal was approved by the authority.
The Motors.co.uk team has now joined Gumtree UK, an eBay Classifieds business, and together with eBay Motors UK the combination of all three will mean a reach of 10m-plus unique site visitors and more than 620,000 listings.
Martin Forbes, CEO of Cox Automotive UK, said: ‘The completion of this deal is great news for Motors.co.uk. Under the new ownership of eBay, a business renowned for its strong consumer-led focus, I have full confidence that Motors.co.uk will further accelerate its growth and increase its share of the automotive classified marketplace.
‘This transaction enables Cox Automotive UK to focus its resources and assets in developing our “Connected Retail” proposition and build upon our strengths in the wholesale market, both physical and digital, especially with the launch of the new Dealer Auction platform, which will improve the speed of sale and profitability for vendors and give buyers access to the UK’s largest wholesale marketplace.’
A merger inquiry was launched on December 13 and the CMA said on Tuesday: ‘The CMA has cleared the anticipated acquisition by eBay Inc of Motors.co.uk Limited. The full text of the decision will be available soon.’
A spokesman for Gumtree UK said: ‘We welcome today’s decision by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to approve eBay’s proposed acquisition of Motors.co.uk from Cox Automotive. As a result of the transaction, we believe car dealers would be able to increase their sales leads and, at the same time, give their consumers more choice and value.’
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