Herbert Smith Freehills advises Adevinta on sale of Gumtree Australia, Carsguide and Autotrader Australia

Herbert Smith Freehills has advised Adevinta on the divestment of its online classifieds businesses — Gumtree Australia, Carsguide and Autotrader Australia — to The Market Herald for total cash consideration of USD$60 million.

Adevinta is a leading global provider of digital marketplace services, operating trusted classifieds brands across 14 countries. Adevinta acquired the Gumtree Australia, Carsguide and Autotrader Australia businesses as part of its acquisition of eBay Classifieds Group (the classifieds arm of eBay) and is selling the businesses as part of its focus on investment in its five core European markets.

The Herbert Smith Freehills team was led by partner Brad Russell and senior associate Mia Harrison-Kelf, aided by a core team featuring solicitors Shonie Kaushik and Alessandra Hayward. They worked alongside other Herbert Smith Freehills specialists, including Peter Jones (TMT), Phil McMahon and Anthony Economou (Finance), Tess Mierendorff (Intellectual Property), and Rommo Pandit (Employment).

Herbert Smith Freehills Corporate partner Brad Russell said, “We are delighted to have supported Adevinta throughout this complex transaction. It has provided an opportunity for our talented lawyers to collaborate with Adevinta to achieve a very positive outcome”.

Senior Associate Mia Harrison-Kelf added, “It was great to work with the Adevinta team, with everyone bringing a very positive and practical approach to executing this strategic transaction”.

The team worked alongside Macquarie Bank and KPMG in advising Adevinta. The Market Herald was advised by Clayton Utz.

The deal is another example of Herbert Smith Freehills’ market-leading work in the M&A sector. It continues a productive past few years for the team, during which it also advised:

• Uber on its acquisition of Australian peer-to-peer car-sharing platform Car Next Door
• NCS, Singtel’s technology services arm, on its acquisition of Australian IT services company The Dialog Group
• Mr Yum, mobile ordering and payment platform, on its acquisition of MyGuestList and Sprout.