OSLO (Reuters) -U.S. e-commerce firm eBay Inc said on Wednesday it would sell part of its stake in Norwegian classifieds group Adevinta to private equity group Permira for $2.25 billion in cash.
The deal comes after Austria’s Federal Competition Authority (FCA) demanded eBay reduce its financial interest in Adevinta to no more than 33% to approve the tie-up of their global classified ads businesses.
In the latest deal, eBay will sell 125 million shares, or 10.2%, to Permira, leaving the U.S. firm with a 34% stake in the Adevinta. Permira has a 30-day option to buy an additional 10 million shares at the same price, reducing eBay’s stake to 33%.
Under last year’s deal, Adevinta was to acquire eBay’s Classifieds Group in return for $2.5 billion in cash and 540 million shares, valuing the transaction at about $13 billion at current stock market prices.
The transaction between eBay and Permira is expected to close in the fourth quarter this year, Adevinta said.
(Reporting by Victoria Klesty in Oslo and Radhika Anilkumar in Bengaluru; Editing by Edmund Blair)
