Affiliates of private equity firm Hellman & Friedman LLC agreed to buy AutoScout24 GmbH from Scout24 AG in a deal that values the German car classifieds platform at about €2.9 billion.
Scout24 said the deal value equates to a multiple of 26.1x on AutoScout24's ordinary operating EBITDA of the last 12 months, as of September. The transaction, which includes FinanceScout24 AG and Finanzcheck, is slated to close during the first half of 2020.
The digital real estate and automotive platform operator said the deal caps off a strategic review launched in August, while allowing its management board to fully concentrate on ImmoScout24 and develop the ecosystem for real estate in Germany.
Scout24 plans to return the proceeds from the sale to its stockholders in the form of distributions, which will be subject to supervisory board and shareholder approvals. It will also use a portion of the proceeds to retire existing debt.
Hellman was reported earlier to be among the shortlisted bidders for AutoScout24, along with fellow buyout firms Permira Advisers Ltd. and Apax Partners LLP.
Credit Suisse and Morgan Stanley were the financial advisers to Scout24 on the deal.