Malaysia’s iCar Asia snaps up Indonesian online marketplace Carmudi for US$3 million
- The acquisition is expected to help iCar Asia double revenue from its operations in Southeast Asia’s largest economy
Automotive portal operator iCar Asia has entered into a binding agreement to acquire online marketplace Carmudi Indonesia, in a move to capture the growth in Southeast Asia’s vast used car market.
The transaction is expected to be completed on October 15, according to a statement from Kuala Lumpur-based iCar Asia. The US$3 million deal will be paid in two instalments, US$2 million upon completion and the remainder on October 15.
With the acquisition of Carmudi, iCar Asia expects to double revenue from its operations in Indonesia. Founded in 2012, iCar Asia entered Indonesia, the region’s largest economy, after acquiring car classifieds site Mobil123 in 2014.
Australia-listed iCar Asia claims to run the largest network of online automotive sites in Southeast Asia, with the potential to connect more than 600 million car buyers and sellers across the region.
Backed by Rocket Internet, Jakarta-based Carmudi runs online car marketplaces in both Indonesia and the Philippines. It raised US$10 million in a Series C funding round in January from Asia Pacific Internet Group.
Carmudi is one of the largest automotive sites in Indonesia, with more than two million visits per month. It also operates five bricks-and-mortar sales centres called “Carsentros”. These are the transaction hubs for car dealers and car financing, among a range of services.
The used car marketplace business is heating up in Southeast Asia, where vehicle sales have consistently grown each year.
Other growing automotive marketplace start-ups in the region include Carro, BelimobilGue and Carsome. In early August, Carro raised US$30 million in its Series B funding round. It has acquired Indonesian marketplace platform Jualo to accelerate regional expansion. Rival BeliMobilGue also received an investment commitment of US$30 million from Berlin-based joint venture partner Frontier Car Group to help expand its business.
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