CEO Tomy Schoenfeld informed employees that the deal could close by then.

Four major foreign investment funds — Blackstone, Francisco Partners, Apax, and Warburg Pincus — are competing, with Blackstone seen as the frontrunner. A fifth fund, CVC, is reportedly preparing to submit a bid. Barclays and Citi are managing the transaction.

Financials obtained by CalcalisTech revealed sustained growth for Yad2, with 2024 revenue at €62.4 million and a 46% adjusted EBITDA margin.

In 2025, revenue is expected to reach €83 million with adjusted EBITDA of €37 million, maintaining a similar margin.

Projected revenue for 2026 stands at €93.7 million, and adjusted EBITDA at €44.4 million, with an estimated 21% annual growth rate in operating cash flow from 2022 to 2026. The company noted that its performance could have been stronger without the ongoing war in Israel.

Growth drivers include increased ad sales, user conversion to paying ads, and traffic growth.

Yad2.co.il reportedly attracts 4 million unique visitors per month (Similarweb put its September traffic at 9.3 million), listing around 590,000 new ads monthly. The majority of revenue is from real estate (56%), primarily agencies and developers, followed by automotive (27%) and job listings via its subsidiary Drushim.co.il (15%).

Yad2 is operated by Aviv Group, which is based in Germany and was acquired by KKR as part of an $11 billion deal with Axel Springer. Its competitors include Facebook Marketplace, Agora.co.il and Homeless.co.il.

The AIM Group reached out to Yad2 for confirmation of the acquisition reports, but had not received a response by the time the story was published.

PakWheels.com is the country’s leading automotive marketplace, featuring new and used cars and motorbikes, along with an e-commerce portal for spare parts and accessories.

Founded in 2003, PakWheels is 37% owned by Malaysia-based marketplace operator Frontier Digital Ventures (FDV). FDV reported a 58% year-on-year revenue growth and a 178% surge in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization from the auto site in Q1 2025.

In September, PakWheels.com had 6.7 million unique visits, maintaining its position as the top auto marketplace ahead of competitors like Gari.pk, according to Similarweb. It is also one of the world’s most-visited automotive marketplaces, according to AIM Group’s ranking.

The auto marketplace recorded 150,000 vehicle transactions in 2024 and is currently running the beta version of its UAE auto classifieds site, ArabWheels.ae.

Co-founder Suneel Munj said, “This service center marks the beginning of PakWheels’ vision to bring quality, transparency, and convenience to every car owner in Pakistan.”

This feature was launched following a pre-launch survey by Yahoo Japan Flea Market, part of LY Corp.’s re-use segment, where 33% of respondents were unsure about pricing and many showed interest in an image-based price suggestion tool, according to company news release (translated by Google).

The AI, powered by Google’s generative Gemini model, analyzes the photo to automatically generate product titles, descriptions, conditions, and price suggestions, simplifying and speeding up the listing process.

Users can send photos through the official LINE account for AI analysis, which estimates market prices and category information.

This new functionality upgrades the prior AI-assisted listing tools and aims to enhance user convenience compared to competitors like Mercari.

Yahoo Japan Flea Market has been downloaded over 30 million times, surpassing Mercari Japan’s 23 million monthly active users for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2025.

LY Corp. generated JPY12.4 billion ($83.9 million) in revenue from its re-use segment, covering Yahoo Japan Auction, Yahoo Japan Flea Market, ZozoUsed and Beenos, for the first quarter ended June.

In a LinkedIn post, Aunapuu highlighted the investment, led by Specialist VC, with participation from H&M Group Ventures, Trind Ventures, Startup Wise Guys, and a group of angel investors.

Yaga launched in the Estonian capital of Tallinn with Yaga.ee in 2017 and expanded to South Africa with Yaga.co.za in 2020. Late last year, the company started operation in Kenya at Yaga.co.ke.

“This funding helps us explore expansion opportunities in Africa and MENA and keep making circular fashion more accessible — and more fun,” Aunapuu noted in the post.

Yaga describes itself as a c-to-c marketplace with transaction services, like escrow payment and various shipping options. Both listing and selling are free.

Yaga previously announced $2.2 million in seed funding round back in 2022.

“We’ve come a long way: 25-person team, €50M+ GMV run-rate, profitable, and backed by an incredible community of supporters,” Aunapuu added.

Leading marketplace horizontal Gumtree South Africa termed Yaga as one of its key competitors during a conversation with the AIM Group.

The tripartite alliance aims to offer a complete value chain for both businesses and consumers — “from vehicle sourcing and charger installation to maintenance and digital management,” EV24.Africa said in a news release.

Under the collaboration, EV24.Africa will ensure a stable supply of EVs, Jubaili Bros — a global provider of conventional and renewable off-grid and backup power services — will lead the design, installation, and maintenance of charging infrastructure, while Illigo will handle remote monitoring, solar-powered microgrid integration, and online payments via its proprietary charger management platform and app.

“With the EV market accelerating across Africa, Nigeria is poised to take a leading share. This alliance ensures that the necessary infrastructure is built in tandem with vehicle availability,” said Alexandre Allanic, chief development officer of Auto24.Africa.

Launched in March, EV24.Africa sells new and used EVs across Africa and successfully delivered its first batch of vehicles to customers in ten countries within three months.

Auto24.Africa is a subsidiary of Africar Group Pty Ltd. Based in Australia, the group is backed by Stellantis and other international investors.

The regulator authorized the takeover of Araba Sepeti Otomotiv Bilişim Danışmanlık Hizmetleri Sanayi ve Ticaret, which operates under the brand name Carvak.com, by Borusan Otomotiv Group.

Mexico-based digital auto retailer Kavak.com sold Araba Sepeti after acquiring the used-car specialist, also known as GarajSepeti, four years ago.

According to c-to-b-to-c Kavak’s website, the company operates in seven countries, including Turkey, where it established inventory, sales, and purchase centers in 21 cities within one year and invested $30 million to expand operations in the Middle East.

The AIM Group has contacted Kavak for details of the acquisition and will update the story when a response is received.

Last year, Borusan Otomotiv Group launched BorusanNext.com.tr, its online service for buying and selling used cars. The dealership chain provides sales and after-sales services through a network of more than 70 outlets nationwide and is jointly owned by industrial group Borusan Holding A.Ş. and Germany-based Giwa Holding GmbH & Co. KGaA.

Sellers simply submit vehicle information to receive multiple appraisals. The new service addresses the concerns of users who previously received multiple calls from dealers after requesting an appraisal and had no control over the timing of contact, sometimes receiving several calls at once, the company said.

My Car Scout gives sellers the flexibility to choose the best offer before proceeding with further negotiations, according to CarView. However, the final price is determined by a physical inspection of the car, including the verification of its mileage and repair history.

For dealers, the arrangement is also efficient, with a higher success rate, since they only negotiate with users who are already satisfied with the appraised price.

CarView.Yahoo.co.jp lists around 500,000 used cars, which is almost as much its two main rivals — Recruit Holdings’ CarSensor.net  and Proto Corp’s Goo-Net.com — combined.

By traffic, CarSensor leads with 35.1 million visits in August, compared with CarView’s 29.5 million and Goo-Net’s 24.5 million, according to Similarweb data.

All three are among the world’s top 50 automotive marketplaces and classified sites, according to the AIM Group’s rankings.

Encar.com, a leading mobile-first auto marketplace in South Korea owned by Australia-based Car Group, has launched a vehicle recommendation assistant to help users find suitable used cars from a wide assortment of about 120,000 domestic listings.

According to the information Encar shared with the AIM Group, users can benefit from the new AI assistant in two ways: they can either explore options in a conversational style or first choose a price range and model, then receive a curated list of recommendations from the chatbot.

A user can type a simple query specifying the desired price range and then indicate a preferred brand and model. Vehicle basics such as model and price can also be selected to generate 10 listings, which are further narrowed down to three best-fit options. These include a comprehensive comparison report with key features, accident and insurance records, and buying tips.

Encar unveiled AI chatbot last month to bolster its digital retailing business. The marketplace recently reported a solid rise in full-year revenue, driven primarily by its popular guarantee inspection product.

The company, which accounts for 40% of annual domestic used-car registrations, also launched an advanced inspection and certification program in July.

Encar.com recorded 8 million visits in August, according to Similarweb. Its app has been downloaded more than 5 million times, according to Google Play. By traffic, Bobaedream.co.kr is the No. 1 car listing site with 17.2 million monthly visits.

Without disclosing further details, except that the investment is structured as a joint-stock scheme, the news portal linked the capital injection to SpotAWheel’s strong performance in imported used-car sales in recent years.

The fund will be used to build up inventory of secondhand vehicles and strengthen the company’s leasing business, according to the report.

Operated by London-registered SpotMechanic Limited and also active in Poland and Romania, SpotAWheel raised €110 million from VentureFriends, Adevinta Ventures, Uniqa Ventures, Rockaway Ventures, Velocity Partners, FJ Labs and Collective Spark in 2022. In July this year, Alter Ego Ventures agreed to buy a limited minority stake in SpotMechanic via preferred F shares for €1.5 million.

Founded in 2016, SpotAWheel enables fully online car buying with a 200+ point technical inspection report, a 5-year warranty and nationwide delivery.

The AIM Group has contacted the company for additional information and will update the story when a response is received.