U.S. e-commerce group eBay and Norway’s Adevinta have gotten last regulatory approval for a combination of their global classified ads business, the Norwegian firm said on Friday.
Under a deal struck last year, Adevinta will obtain eBay’s Classifieds Group as a trade-off for $2.5 billion in cash and 540 million shares, valuing the exchange at around $13 billion at current stock market prices.
The final regulatory approval came from the Austrian competition watch dog after eBay consented to lessen its ownership stake in Adevinta during the next 18 months, the Norwegian firm said.
The trade off eliminates the only remarkable obstruction to the deal following an approval from Britain’s Competition and Markets Authority recently.
“Adevinta is satisfied to report that end of the transactions will be initiated shortly and is expected to be completed by June 25,” the Oslo-listed company said in an explanation.
The exchange makes eBay Adevinta’s biggest investor with an overall stake of 44% and 33.3% of the votes, and gives the U.S. firm two seats on the company’s board. Norway’s Schibsted will hold around 39.5% of the votes.
Yet, as a feature of the deal with Austria’s Federal Competition Authority (FCA), eBay should lessen its financial interest in Adevinta to around to 33% within 18 months exchange’s end, Adevinta said.
“The solutions proposed by Adevinta and eBay address the FCA’s anxiety that the exchange might actually reduce contest in the Austrian market,” the company said.
Adevinta’s shares were up 2.0% to 165.7 Norwegian crowns at 0917 GMT.
As a component of the deal, Schibsted will purchase eBay Classifieds Group’s Danish assets from Adevinta for $330 million.
