Multinational marketplaces operator Prosus has agreed to buy France-based auto marketplace La Centrale Group from Providence Equity Partners for €1.1 billion ($1.3 billion), Prosus — the parent company of classifieds division OLX Group — has announced. Presumably, classifieds operator Aviv Group, owned by private equity fund KKR, is also selling its minority shareholding in La Centrale.
The deal is expected to close by the end of this year, according to Prosus’ news release.
“Ongoing shift towards professional sellers presents significant upside”
Prosus stated that “La Centrale provides OLX with an immediate leading position in one of Europe’s largest used car markets. By combining OLX’s scale and technology with La Centrale’s local expertise and strong brand, the business is well positioned to attract more dealers and expand their partnerships, enhance the customer experience, and accelerate revenue growth.”
It said that the deal boosted OLX’s motors portfolio in Europe: “La Centrale is a leading French vertical motors classifieds platform with strong brand recognition and scale (c.4.5m monthly unique visitors and ~350k listings), which complements OLX’s leading motors portfolio in Central and Eastern Europe, comprising 4 brands spanning 5 markets.”
Prosus added that the acquisition represented a “compelling market opportunity,” noting that “The French car market is healthy and resilient, with solid growth potential in the dealer segment.”
“The ongoing shift of the used cars market towards professional sellers presents significant upside as the dealership landscape matures and consolidates. Professional dealers currently account for ~36% of used car sales, compared with ~70% in Germany, and the average value per dealer transaction sits below European benchmarks.”
“At the same time, margins on new cars are tightening, EV adoption is reshaping supply and consumers are increasingly turning to trusted digital platforms for transparency and choice. Classifieds platforms like La Centrale are well-positioned to capture this opportunity by connecting professional sellers with a growing pool of value-conscious buyers.”
It noted that La Centrale had “undergone a successful restructuring, strengthening its technology, user experience and overall market position, closing ground with its competitors. This led to an improved financial performance with classifieds revenues growing at a 12% CAGR.”
Finally, Prosus stated that La Centrale would enhance its European ecosystem strategy: “Prosus is building the leading European technology ecosystem, which will lead in consumer platforms and AI. Our ecosystem approach will drive user engagement and customer loyalty, strengthen AI capabilities and help to optimise costs for our businesses.”
Prosus stated that its investment in AI “is already reinventing ecommerce, from intelligent dispatching to hyper-personalised ordering, and we’re building Large Commerce Models — artificial intelligence systems which are the new operating systems for ecommerce. Following on the heels of Prosus’s planned acquisition of Just Eat Takeaway.com, La Centrale further strengthens Prosus’s European ambition.”
”La Centrale is a natural fit within our classifieds portfolio”
”La Centrale is a natural fit within our classifieds portfolio,” said OLX CEO Christian Gisy.
“Our strategy is to unleash the growth potential of vertical marketplaces, building strong regional leaders by scaling businesses using our proprietary AI technology. La Centrale’s strong market position and talented team are the perfect foundation to deliver our trusted innovative customer-first technology solutions to France.”
Prosus CEO Fabricio Bloisi commented: “La Centrale strengthens our lifestyle ecommerce ecosystem in Europe and highlights our commitment to invest in the people and platforms shaping the future of ecommerce in the region.”
“La Centrale will expand our footprint into one of Europe’s most dynamic technology markets and unlock new opportunities to innovate, scale and deliver even greater value to consumers and partners through AI. I expect to invest more in AI technology in France.”
Karim Tabet, Providence Equity Partners senior managing director and head of Europe, and Robert Sudo, its managing director, stated: “Since our investment in 2021, Providence, in partnership with Philippe [Chainieux] and his team, has successfully transformed La Centrale from a traditional auto classifieds player into a leading data and tech platform for new and used cars in France.” Providence Equity Partners is headquartered in Providence, Rhode Island and has offices in New York City, Boston, Atlanta and London.
“We believe substantial investments in talent, technology and marketing, together with the dedication of all employees, have been pivotal to the company’s strategic transformation and to La Centrale’s success.”
“La Centrale has long been a trusted destination for dealers and consumers in France,” according to Philippe Chainieux, its CEO. He joined the company in July 2023.
“We believe that joining forces with OLX and Prosus will allow us to expand that mission, accelerate innovation and deliver even greater value to our customers. We are excited to write the next chapter of growth together.”
Le Centrale has been quietly rebuilding
Le Centrale is the No. 2 auto marketplace in France, behind Adevinta’s LeBonCoin. The former has been quietly rebuilding over recent years, with a new executive team, an internal overhaul, and a ramped-up focus on dealers.
“The shareholders gave me the opportunity to invest heavily in the brand,” Chainieux told the AIM Group in a recent video interview. “We’ve regenerated the business, the brand, the services we provide, and the value we deliver. The company today is very different from two years ago.”
Founded in 1969 as a print classified publication, La Centrale’s journey mirrors that of Auto Trader in the U.K. La Centrale launched a website in 1999, closed its weekly magazine in 2009, and evolved into France’s leading automotive marketplace.
However, the company lost the battle for private car listings to Adevinta-owned horizontal giant LeBonCoin.
LeBonCoin generates much higher traffic to its auto category through a freemium model and its big brand power. That’s part of the reason Axel Springer sold its majority holding in La Centrale.
Chainieux has been refocusing and repositioning the business, which includes core used-auto marketplace LaCentrale.fr, new-car marketplace PromoNeuve.fr, c-to-b service Le Rachat Express, and auto news site Caradisiac. With this network, Chainieux believes there is plenty of scope to make significant progress with private listings, while powering tools for dealers.
Based in the Netherlands and listed on Euronext Amsterdam, Prosus is majority owned by South Africa-based Naspers. Apart from OLX Group, its marketplaces include South Africa-based AutoTrader, OLX Brazil, Portugal-based real estate marketplace ImmoVirtual and Poland-based auto marketplace Otomoto.
The AIM Group has contacted Prosus and Aviv Group for further information about the deal, and we will update this story if we receive a response.
