2:20 pm, June 28, 2021
Online advertising agency Adevinta has put Gumtree and Motors.co.uk up for sale after completing its drawn-out £6.6bn takeover of eBay Classifieds Group (eCG).
The Norwegian company has confirmed the biggest deal in the history of classified advertising but is being forced to sell Gumtree and Motors.co.uk in a bid to appease competition watchdogs.
Both companies are part of the eBay Motors group, along with eBay Motors.
Earlier this year, Car Dealer reported the Competition and Market Authority had voiced concerns that the takeover could lead to ‘higher prices and less choice’.
The concerns arose as Adevinta owns Shpock, and eCG owns Gumtree – the two leading online classified ad sites in the UK.
Negotiations are ongoing with interested parties and Adevinta are hopeful a deal will be struck later this year.
That will mark the end of a takeover saga that has dragged on for close to a year, with Car Dealer first reporting the news in July 2020.
The new team will be led by the firm’s current CEO Rolv Erik Ryssdal.
He said: ‘This is a game-changing transaction for Adevinta, making us the world’s leading online classifieds group with leading market positions in 16 countries.
‘Adevinta has unparalleled scale in technology and talent that will allow us to build world-class products to create value for consumers and advertisers in a rapidly changing environment.
‘This increased scale will allow Adevinta to accelerate innovation in products and services to deliver more value to its users and customers and to take advantage of the ongoing consolidation in the global online classifieds industry.’
