Adevinta, eBay clear final hurdle in US$13b advertising tie-up

[OSLO] US e-commerce group eBay and Norway's Adevinta have secured final regulatory approval for a tie-up of their global classified ads businesses, the Norwegian firm said on Friday.

Under a deal struck last year, Adevinta will acquire eBay's Classifieds Group in return for US$2.5 billion in cash and 540 million shares, valuing the transaction at around US$13 billion at current stock market prices.

The final regulatory approval came from the Austrian competition watchdog, removing the sole outstanding obstacle to the deal following a go-ahead from Britain's Competition and Markets Authority earlier this month.

"Adevinta is pleased to announce that closing of the transaction will be initiated shortly and is expected to complete on or about 25 June," the Oslo-listed company said in a statement.

The transaction makes eBay Adevinta's largest shareholder with an overall 44 per cent stake and 33.3 per cent of the vote, and gives the US firm two seats on the company's board. Norway's Schibsted will hold around 39.5 per cent of the votes.

But as part of the deal with Austria's Federal Competition Authority (FCA), eBay must reduce its financial interest in Adevinta to no more than 33 per cent within 18 months of the transactions's closing, Adevinta said.

REUTERS