The Market Herald announced it will acquire Gumtree Australia, Carsguide and Autotrader Australia.
Together Gumtree Autos, Carsguide and Autotrader are together the number two automotive marketplace in Australia.
The Market Herald has signed an agreement to acquire 100% of the shares of Gumtree Australia and entities for total consideration of $AUD86.7million ($US60million )subject to completion.
The number of car listings and site traffic is nearing parity with the top automotive marketplace. Further product development and digital classified advertising expansion will deliver an end-to-end digital car buying experience for millions of users.
Jag Sanger, managing director of The Market Herald, said: “The Gumtree, Carsguide and Autotrader platform is one of the largest digital communities in Australia.
“Gumtree is part of life for millions of Australians, and there are many opportunities to add more products and services, creating and end to end digital offer.
“In addition the Gumtree, Carsguide and Autotrader proposition is the leading challenger to the $6billion marcap automotive listings incumbent and there are many opportunities to close the gap,” he added.
The Market Herald will also expand Fancy, its luxury editorial-led listings platform for high value products and services.
Sanger said: “We serve an affluent and engaged readership, and they are key markets for luxury goods. Luxury goods retailing is changing. As luxury brands embrace digital they are looking at new channels to engage with their customers.
“Globally, business-focused newspapers, such as the Financial Times and The Wall Street Journal are benefiting from this shift and are developing new digital offers to serve this market. This will become an important part of our editorial and video streaming offer,” he added.
The company is also set to launch The Market Herald Family Office, it will be an editorial and streaming video offer covering the products and services that self directed high net wealth investors need to manage their wealth, such as estate planning, tax, philanthropy, wellness, art and alternative asset consultancy and other services.
It will also serve as a marketplace of service providers wanting to connect to this audience through listings, streaming segment sponsorship and transactional offers.
Sanger said: “We already operate one of the largest digital communities of self directed wealth in Australia, and they use our platforms to research and make investments.
“Now with The Market Herald Family Office we can help them research how to manage their wealth and connect them with service providers wanting to reach them. This is a unique wealth management marketplace and will be a key part of our offer,” the Market Herald managing director added.