An institution of online sales in France, the Leboncoin site could soon come under the Anglo-Saxon flag, a consortium of investors having put more than 12 billion euros on the table to buy its parent company.
Following the sign of interest that they had publicly displayed in September, the American funds Blackstone and British Permira, allied with General Atlantic and TCV, unveiled on Tuesday a purchase offer for the Norwegian specialist in online advertisements Adevinta , a multinational of which Leboncoin constitutes one of the jewels.
12 billion on the table
The offer, in cash and shares, values Adevinta at 141 billion Norwegian crowns (12.1 billion euros). It received the support of shareholders representing 72.3% of Adevinta’s capital, including the two main ones, the American eBay and the Norwegian Schibsted, the parties specify in a joint stock market press release.
In a separate statement, Adevinta’s board of directors neither recommended nor discouraged the investors’ proposal, stressing that “shareholders should have the opportunity to form their own opinion on the merits of the offer “.
Born from a split with Schibsted and managed by the Frenchman Antoine Jouteau, Adevinta is a group specializing in online advertisements which has assets, among others, in Germany (Mobile.de), Spain, Benelux and Italy . But it is France, where the group also owns the Argus, Avendrealouer and Agriaffaires groups alongside the flagship Leboncoin, which constitutes its biggest market.
In 2022, France represented almost a third of its global turnover, or 494 million euros out of a total of 1.6 billion. Ditto for the operating profit which reached 54 million euros for 145 million all countries combined.
Nearly twenty years of history
A French version of the Swedish site Blocket.se, Leboncoin was born in 2006 as the result of a 50-50 partnership between Schibsted and Spir Communication, a subsidiary of the Ouest-France group, before the Norwegian took full control. in 2010.
The French site – which received more than 150 million visits in October according to the Alliance for Press and Media Figures – was then integrated into the scope of Adevinta when it split from Schibsted into 2019.
At 115 crowns per share, the offer from the Anglo-Saxon consortium represents a premium of 54% compared to the average price of Adevinta shares over the months preceding September 19, the date around which investors had expressed their interest in the group, boosting its stock on the stock market. On Tuesday, before the takeover bid was announced, Adevinta shares closed at 106.1 crowns on the Oslo Stock Exchange.
“Attractive valuation”
“We believe our offering represents an attractive valuation,” said Blackstone’s head of European equities, Lionel Assant, “while helping Adevinta capitalize on its long-term growth opportunities in a rapidly evolving landscape.”
To carry out this buyout, the investors specially created a new joint venture, called Aurelia. If the offer is successful, conditional on the contribution of 90% of the capital, eBay and Schibsted would become minority shareholders of Aurelia with shares of approximately 20% and 13.6% respectively.