Northzone makes 13x on Avito exit

The transaction valued Avito at $2.7bn, and saw Northzone reap SEK 1.3bn on an initial investment of SEK 100m made five years ago.

Other exiting investors include Accel Partners, Baring Private Equity Partners and Kinnevik. Swedish investment company Kinnevik was the first institutional backer of Avito in 2009 and the sale of its 31% stake returned $846m to Kinnevik.

The deal is subject to approval by the South African Reserve Bank and local anti-trust regulator.

Previous funding
Kinnevik was the first investor to back Avito, investing SEK 28m in June 2009. The investment was followed by a $26m round in November 2010 alongside Northzone, which invested $5m.

In June 2011, Kinnevik expanded its stake in Avito through a SEK 62m investment. The investor was joined in a $75m funding round in May 2012 by new backers Accel Partners and Baring Private Equity Partners, who invested alongside Kinnevik and Northzone.

Kinnevik followed up a year later with a fifth capital injection of $17m in March 2013.

Company
Launched in October 2007, Avito.ru is a classifieds website that aims to enhance communication between buyers and sellers.

Headquartered in Moscow, the company generated $76.5m in revenues in 2014 and boasts a profit margin of around 50%.

People
Northzone general partner Pär-Jörgen Pärson has served on the board of Avito since 2010. Swedes Jonas Nordlander and Filip Engelbert are the founders of Avito.

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• Topics
• Exits
• Technology
• CEE
• Northzone
• Russia
• Accel Ventures
• Baring Private Equity Partners
• Trade sale