Eurazeo is to sell 49 per cent of its stake in Trader Interactive, a provider of online advertising & marketing solutions to the powersports, recreational vehicle, commercial truck & equipment industries based in Virginia (USA), to carsales an online automotive advertising platform in Australia with a growing presence in Latin America and Asia.
Internationally, carsales operates several marketplaces across both the automotive and specialty vehicle segments with leading properties such as demotores.com in Argentina and EnCar in South Korea.
Under this agreement, Trader Interactive is valued at USD1.625 billion corresponding to 26.5-times CY 2020 Adjusted EBITDA. With this operation, Eurazeo and its affiliates show a total valuation on a realised and unrealized basis of 2.8x their original investment.
The sale of the 49 per cent stake represents pre-tax proceeds of ~USD280 million for Eurazeo and its affiliates, of which USD190 million for Eurazeo. This represents 1.5x on their total initial investment. carsales has a call option for the 51 per cent remaining equity stake in Trader Interactive.
Trader Interactive was the first investment made by Eurazeo’s mid-large buyout team in the US in June 2017. Over the last four years, Trader Interactive has significantly reinforced its leading position across each of its verticals with the support of Eurazeo. Through its relentless focus on building a world class technology and data platform along with targeted and strategic M&A, Trader continues to deliver increasing value to its dealers every day.
Marc Frappier, Member of the Executive Board, Managing Partner of mid-large buyout, says: “Trader Interactive exemplifies Eurazeo’s strategy to select and support market leaders across attractive industries supported by strong fundamentals and clear growth drivers. We look forward to accompanying Trader in the next stage of its journey.”
Vivianne Akriche, Managing Director, mid-large buyout, adds: “carsales has a strong track record of building valuable international partnerships in vertical marketplaces. We are very excited to partner with carsales for Trader Interactive’s next chapter and are convinced that combining our respective experiences will further accelerate the Company’s transformation and growth.”
