Private investment firms made an offer to acquire Adevinta ASA (ADE:OSL), an online classifieds business and the world’s ninth-largest online jobs advertising platform. Adevinta announced the offer on 21 November following the receipt of an indicative proposal on 27 September.

According to the Financial Times, the plan to delist the company would be second-biggest leveraged buyout this year. Adevinta was spun out of Norwegian media company Schibsted in 2019 and, in 2020, the company merged with eBay’s classifieds business.

Earnings

The Oslo-based firm also reported third-quarter operating revenues rose 11% to €454 million compared to the same quarter in the prior year. EBITDA grew by 29.5% to €171 million and the company’s EBITDA margin rose from 32.4% in Q3 2022 to 37.6% in Q3 2023.

Adevinta was scheduled to release its earnings on 23 November but moved up the release date in light of the acquisition announcement.

“We witnessed another positive set of results in the third quarter, with continued growth across our core business, despite a challenging market environment. This quarter has seen us continue to deliver against our business and strategic roadmap, which we have driven forward with ongoing business integration measures and operational verticalisation” Adevinta CEO Antoine Jouteau said in a press release.

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The company’s core markets are France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg.

The private investment offer would pay Adevinta shareholders NOK 115 (€9.79) per share. The price is more than 50% above Adevinta’s average share price over the three months before reports of a possible deal emerged in September. It values the company at about €14 billion including debt, according to the company.

Leading the acquisition efforts are investment firms Permira Advisers LLC and The Blackstone Group International Partners LLP. The firms would also be joined by investors General Atlantic and TCV.

The deal calls for acquiring all outstanding shares in Adevinta.

“We believe our offer provides attractive value and certainty for shareholders, whilst helping Adevinta take advantage of its long-term growth opportunities in a rapidly changing landscape,” Lionel Assant, head of European private equity at Blackstone, said in a press release.

Approximately 72.3% of Adevinta shares have been committed to the deal, which is expected to close in the second quarter of 2024.

Adevinta’s brands include Leboncoin in France, Kleinanzeigen.de in Germany, Marktplaats.nl in the Netherlands and Kijiji.ca in Canada.

One of the investment firms, Permira, already holds a stake in Adevinta.

“Since our 2021 investment, we have seen firsthand the strength of Adevinta’s brands, market positions and management team, as well as the growth opportunities and challenges that lie ahead,” Stefan Dziarski and Dipan Patel, partners at Permira, said in a joint press statement.

In addition, eBay Inc., which currently holds a stake Adevinta, said it would sell 50% of its shares as part of this transaction for an estimated USD 2.2 billion. It would exchange the remaining shares for an equity stake of approximately 20% in the newly privatized company.

Permira, Blackstone and co-investors would have the right to acquire a portion of eBay’s stake, potentially reducing it to 9.99%.

The company forecast that EBITDA for 2023 as a whole would come in “at the top end of the previously announced €620 million to €650 million range” amid “double digit Core Markets revenue growth.”

Shares and market cap

Shares in Adevinta closed at NOK 106.10 (€9.03); they were 6.60% below their 52-week high. The company currently has a market cap of NOK 124.73 billion (€10.6 billion).