Naspers unit OLX splashes R1.4-billion on Webuycars

Naspers is nothing if not busy. A day after announcing a plan to unbundle pay-television unit MultiChoice to shareholders and list it on the JSE, its online classifieds business OLX has made a R1.4-billion investment in South African specialised car-buying service Webuycars.

Founded 17 years ago by Faan and Dirk van der Walt, Webuycars operates a used car marketplace in South Africa offering a specialised car buying service to sellers.

“The combination of Webuycars’ specialised instant-buying model and OLX’s proprietary online classifieds technology will strengthen the overall used-car ecosystem in South Africa by providing dealerships with improved access to stock, and private buyers and sellers with an enhanced user experience focused on trust, safety and convenience,” OLX Group said in a statement.

OLX has not disclosed the stake it has bought in the company.

“We believe that the technology and services from specialised car-buying services like Webuycars can help improve the experience of classifieds users across our OLX platforms,” said OLX Group CEO Martin Scheepbouwer.

“We are particularly impressed with the team’s focus on the customer and the lean operating model they have established and look forward to working together to empower car dealers and bring further convenience and trust to used car buying and selling in South Africa.”

The investment forms part of Naspers’s undertaking to accelerate growth in classifieds, online food delivery and fintech businesses globally, OLX said.  — © 2018 NewsCentral Media