Austria: Schoenherr advises Adevinta on the sale of Shpock to Russmedia

Schoenherr advised Adevinta on the divestment of its 100 % stake in Austrian-based online classifieds marketplace "Shpock" (operated by finderly GmbH) to Russmedia Equity Partners. The transaction closed on 2 June 2021.

Adevinta's divestment of Shpock and, in particular, Shpock's UK business marked an important milestone for Adevinta to receive approval from the UK Competition and Markets Authority for Adevinta's acquisition of 100 % of eBay Classifieds Group, the global classifieds arm of eBay Inc, for a headline value of approx. USD 9.2bln .

"It was a great pleasure advising Adevinta on this headline transaction. Congratulations to all involved parties on successfully closing this deal! ", said Schoenherr partner Alexander Popp, who led the advising Schoenherr team.

Adevinta is a listed global online classifieds specialist, operating digital online classifieds in nine countries and headquartered in Oslo, Norway. Adevinta's portfolio spans more than 30 digital products and websites, attracting 1.3bln average monthly visits, including, for instance, Austria's biggest digital marketplace Willhaben, a joint venture of the Austrian Styria Media Group and Adevinta. Adevinta is majority owned by Schibsted ASA and employs 4,700 people.

Shpock is a generalist (app-first) mobile online classifieds site that was acquired by Schibsted in 2015. In 2019 Shpock had approximately 26m listings in the UK and since its launch in July 2015, Shpock has had 52m total downloads worldwide and had approximately 92 % of traffic from mobile phones in 2019.

Russmedia Equity Partners is an investor in and operator of online marketplaces, aggregators, and SaaS solutions with over 20 years of experience in successfully investing in and operating digital companies. The company currently runs a profitable portfolio of 19 digital businesses across six countries in Europe.

The Schoenherr team advising Adevinta was led by Alexander Popp (partner) who was primarily supported by Michael Stimakovits (attorney at law). The team further consisted of Miriam Simsa (partner); Thomas Kulnigg (partner); Gregor Petric (counsel); Philipp Kalser (associate); Franz Urlesberger (partner); Johannes Frank (attorney at law); and Marco Thorbauer (attorney at law).