UPDATE: The acquisition of Cox Australia Media Solutions, which operates CarsGuide.com.au and Autotrader.com.au, has been completed. The deal, which combines the strength of Gumtree, CarsGuide.com.au and Autotrader.com.au, will create an attractive car-buying platform for Australian consumers. By harnessing their collective strengths, the acquisition will create a comprehensive automotive ecosystem for dealers providing more reach, insights and tools. The three brands will maintain their own, unique buyer-facing experience and the joint proposition will deliver a seamless car buying experience for consumers and more value for our dealer partners.Today, eBay has agreed to acquire Cox Automotive Media Solutions, which owns CarsGuide.com.au and Autotrader.com.au, leading automotive platforms that make it easier to review, buy and sell cars in Australia. Subject to deal close, the two consumer brands will join the Gumtree Australia business, a part of the eBay Classifieds Group (eCG) portfolio. Together, Autotrader.com.au, which has about 2,300 dealers and approximately 90,000 listings, and Gumtree, which has approximately 1,800 dealers and about 80,000 private-party listings, provide a compelling car-buying offering and enable Gumtree to develop a more competitive and attractive platform for Australian consumers.
Editor's Note: The below press release was originally published on December 19, 2019.
“This acquisition is an important part of eBay Classifieds Group’s verticalization strategy in the automotive market, following our successful acquisition of Motors.co.uk in the United Kingdom earlier this year. Gumtree is already an established player in the Australian private sales market, and the addition of CarsGuide.com.au and Autotrader.com.au will make our offerings even more compelling by giving Australian consumers and dealers more reach and choice in market,” said Alessandro Coppo, Senior Vice President and General Manager, eBay Classifieds Group.
Richard Dicello, Head of Motors, Gumtree Australia added, “This acquisition will strengthen our position in the automotive market by providing consumers with access to thousands of additional listings, automotive research, reviews and content, as well as a strong dealer tool and car buying destination. Together with Gumtree Australia, these brands create a robust customer experience in auto buying — from research to purchase.”
CarsGuide.com.au provides a resource for sellers and dealers to access research and content to confidently buy and sell vehicles. Autotrader.com.au is an automotive marketplace that provides services for dealers and creates key relationships between buyers and sellers. Combined with Gumtree Australia, the three brands create a comprehensive offering for the automotive industry and a strong competitive alternative to existing online automotive classifieds platforms.
"Carsguide.com.au is the leading automotive editorial site in Australia and Autotrader.com.au is our relatively new classified marketplace. Our team has worked extensively to provide a comprehensive suite of offerings for auto buyers and sellers,” said Shaun Cornelius, CEO of Media Solutions, Cox Automotive Australia. "Through this deal we have the opportunity to utilize the benefits of these sites combined with the audience and listings from Gumtree, to deliver significantly more value for consumers, car dealerships and advertisers.”
Rob Whiten, CEO of Cox Automotive Australia said, “For Cox Automotive Australia, it will enable us to focus on our broader strategy of building upon our strengths in the wholesale arena and support dealers, OEMs, fleet/lease and retail customers in changing and challenging market conditions. The decision is also in line with other international markets where Cox Automotive is strengthening its focus on wholesale markets and providing connected retail experiences.
The transaction is subject to regulatory approvals in Australia and other closing conditions. It is expected to close in Q2 2020.
About eBay
eBay Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY) is a global commerce leader including the Marketplace, StubHub and Classifieds platforms. Collectively, we connect millions of buyers and sellers around the world, empowering people and creating opportunity for all. Founded in 1995 in San Jose, Calif., eBay is one of the world's most vibrant marketplaces for discovering great value and unique selection. In 2018, eBay enabled $95 billion of gross merchandise volume. For more information about the company and its global portfolio of online brands, visit www.ebayinc.com.
About Gumtree
Gumtree is Australia’s local marketplace with more than 3 million listings across hundreds of categories and over 7 million unique monthly visitors. Gumtree connects buyers and sellers in the local community to buy, sell and find almost anything, across a variety of categories that include: Home & Garden, Baby & Children, Sport & Fitness, Clothing & Jewelry as well as Gumtree Cars and Gumtree Jobs.
Cox Automotive Inc. makes buying, selling, owning and using cars easier for everyone. The global company’s 34,000-plus team members and family of brands, including Autotrader®, Clutch Technologies, Dealer.com®, Dealertrack®, Kelley Blue Book®, Manheim®, NextGear Capital®, VinSolutions®, vAuto® and Xtime®,are passionate about helping millions of car shoppers, 40,000 auto dealer clients across five continents and many others throughout the automotive industry thrive for generations to come. Cox Automotive is a subsidiary of Cox Enterprises Inc., a privately-owned, Atlanta-based company with revenues exceeding $20 billion. coxautoinc.com
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements relating to, among other things, the future performance of eBay Inc. and its consolidated subsidiaries. These statements are based on eBay’s current expectations, forecasts and assumptions and involve risks and uncertainties. Actual results could differ materially from those predicted or implied in this press release for a variety of reasons. You can find more information about risks, uncertainties and other factors that could affect our operating results in our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and subsequent quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, copies of which may be obtained by visiting eBay’s Investor Relations website at https://investors.ebayinc.com or the SEC's website at www.sec.gov. You should not rely on any forward-looking statements. All information in this press release is as of December 20, 2019, and we do not intend and undertake no duty to update this information.