Gumtree South Africa, a well-known online classified ad and community website, has been purchased by Durban-based Impresa Capital from Norwegian firm Adevinta for an unknown sum.
Gumtree South Africa will now have South African owners for the first time in 18 years, after having been controlled by American international e-commerce business eBay and subsequently Adevinta.
The majority owner of the Durban-based Ignition Group of companies, formed in 2002 by brothers Sean and Donovan Bergsma, is the acquiring company Impresa Capital.
Why The Acquisition?
“As a proudly African-rooted business, this acquisition cements our strategy of investments in the technology and media sectors and provides our portfolio of businesses with a solid platform for growth. We plan to enable Gumtree customers to experience new ways of buying and selling through partnerships with the Ignition ecosystem of services,” says Sean Bergsma, cofounder and CEO of Ignition Group.
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The acquisition of Gumtree, in his opinion, is the best “next step” in moving the company in new and interesting areas and creating a variety of opportunities for Gumtree users through the platform.
“The accelerated growth of Gumtree on the African continent will see new jobs being created, and with the technology developed further using local South African talent, it means exciting times ahead for all stakeholders,” he said.
Gumtree SA, an online marketplace that allows millions of users and consumers to buy and sell used items every day, was established in 2004. It continues to be one of the most popular websites in the nation.
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A community-based marketplace like Gumtree SA, according to general manager Claire Cobbledick, benefits strategically from having access to local knowledge and expertise.
“And so being acquired by a South African investor is an important and exciting next step for the Gumtree SA business. We look forward to unlocking synergies within the Ignition Group businesses and network,” says Cobbledick.
Final regulatory permissions are still pending on the transaction.
Gumtree online classified ad Gumtree online classified ad
Charles Rapulu Udoh
Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer, who has several years of experience working in Africa’s burgeoning tech startup industry. He has closed multi-million dollar deals bordering on venture capital, private equity, intellectual property (trademark, patent or design, etc.), mergers and acquisitions, in countries such as in the Delaware, New York, UK, Singapore, British Virgin Islands, South Africa, Nigeria etc. He’s also a corporate governance and cross-border data privacy and tax expert.
As an award-winning writer and researcher, he is passionate about telling the African startup story, and is one of the continent’s pioneers in this regard. You can book a session and speak with him using the link: https://insightsbyexperts.com/view_expert/charles-rapulu-udoh