Softbank invests €460m in Auto1

Oscar Geen
15 January 2018

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Japanese technology investor Softbank has invested €460m in German online car dealer Auto1.

The investor acquired 20% of the business at a valuation of €2.9bn, and Softbank partner Akshay Naheta will join the board of Auto1, according to press reports.

Softbank drew capital from the $93bn Vision Fund, which held a first close in March 2017 and has a target of $100bn.

The fund invests in the technology sector globally with the goal of accelerating the information revolution. It takes minority and majority stakes in private and public companies.

The funding round is the largest growth investment ever made in a German company by a private equity or venture capital firm, according to unquote data", ahead of Warburg Pincus's €450m investment in United Internet in return for a 33% stake in November 2016. The third largest was Auto1's previous round, a €360m series-E led by Princeville Global, Baillie Gifford & Co and Target Global in May last year.

It is also the second transportation-related investment Softbank has made in a month after it purchased a $9bn stake in ride-sharing app Uber at the end of December.

Previous funding
Cherry Ventures took part in a seed round for Auto1 in January 2013 – terms were not disclosed. Piton Capital then led series-A, series-B and series-C rounds for the company before the end of 2014, all at undisclosed valuations, before co-leading a $118m series-D alongside DN Capital in April 2015.

A consortium comprising Princeville, Baillie Gifford and Target Global invested in a €360m series-E funding round in May 2017. The round was a mix of debt and equity financing with cooperation from JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs, Barclays, Citi, BNP Paribas and BHF Bank. The investment was made on the basis of a €2.5bn valuation.

Company
Founded in 2012 by entrepreneur Christian Bertermann, Auto1 is an online trading platform for used cars. It connects buyers and sellers electronically and is used by both consumers and professional dealers, as well as original equipment manufacturers. The company facilitated 330,000 sales in 2016 and reported revenue of €1.5bn. It has a network of 35,000 car dealers and directly employs 2,500 people.

People
SB Investment Advisers – Akshay Naheta (partner).
Auto1 – Christian Bertermann (founder).