OLX Group, a subsidiary of Prosus NV, announced the acquisition of the group the power station for 1.1 billion euros, from Providence Equity Partners. The operation, entirely in cash, must be finalized by the end of the year and is the third largest prosus transaction since the arrival of its general manager Fabricio Bloisi.
Historically located in central and eastern Europe, OLX sets up a solid foot in Western Europe thanks to the power station, a reference player in online automotive ads. For Christian Gisy, CEO of Olx, this acquisition is part of the group’s strategy to focus on three verticals with high value: automobile, real estate and employment.
In France, the online automobile is a contested market, where Leboncoin (ADEVINTA) occupies a dominant position, alongside Carnext, Aramisauto or even networks of digital concessionaires. The arrival of OLX modifies the competitive balance by injecting unprecedented technological and financial power.
OLX has announced that it wanted to apply its massive artificial intelligence investments to the central platform. The challenge is to simplify the online announcement, strengthen confidence in transactions and develop predictive tools for car distributors.
This positioning reflects Prosus’s desire to build “digital ecosystems” capable of competing with the major American and Asian models, by focusing on AI and the scale effect.
Always very dependent on his historical participation in Tencent, Prosus made Europe a strategic priority. The acquisition of the power station comes a few days before the finalization of another major agreement, the entry to 4.1 billion euros in Foutat Takeaway.com. Fabricio Bloisi aims to double the value of the portfolio outside the tence by 2028, based on verticals with high potential: Food Delivery, Fintech, Classifieds and Automobile.
