By Andres Gonzalez and Amy-Jo Crowley
LONDON (Reuters) -Online classifieds group Adevinta is exploring the sale of its Spanish business, two sources with knowledge of the talks said, as its private equity owners seek to break-up the company to focus on three main markets and boost returns.
Norway’s Adevinta, acquired by a consortium led by Blackstone and Permira a year ago, is working with advisers on the sale of the Spanish business, which includes brands such as job-search platform Infojobs or property website Fotocasa, the sources said.
The business could fetch more than 2 billion euros ($2.2 billion), one of the two sources said. A third source said that Adevinta’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) are around 130 million euros.
Blackstone and Permira declined to comment. Adevinta did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Online classifieds businesses have attracted increased investor interest. Cinven acquired Spanish online real estate classifieds platform Idealista last year and British real estate portal Rightmove rejected a proposal from Australian property listing company REA Group that valued it at more than $8 billion.
Potential buyers of Adevinta’s Spanish operations could include financial sponsors and other companies with interest in the online classifieds sector, one of the sources said, who might seek to acquire part or all of Adevinta’s assets in Spain.
Earlier this year, Adevinta agreed to sell its stake in willhaben, Austria’s leading digital consumer marketplace business, and is considering the IPO of German online auto marketplace Mobile.de in 2026, Reuters reported in January.
Adevinta’s strategy has been to concentrate on its largest markets – Germany, France and Benelux – since the buyout.
Adevinta owns six different marketplaces in Spain including coches.net, a leading classifieds site for second-hand cars.
($1 = 0.8936 euros)
(Reporting by Andres Gonzalez, editing by Jane Merriman)
