Russmedia Equity buys secondhand sales platform Shpock

Harriet Matthews
08 June 2021

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Russmedia Equity Partners has acquired Austria-based online classifieds marketplace Schpock from listed online classifieds company Adevinta.

Adevinta said in a statement that it has received approval from the UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) for its acquisition of eBay Classifieds. As part of this deal, eBay is to divest Motors.co.uk, while Adevinta is selling Gumtree and Shpock, in response to concerns raised by the CMA in February 2021.

Russmedia said in a statement that it plans to develop Shpock's brand in Germany and Austria.

Discussions for the deal began in December 2020, a source close to the situation told Unquote, confirming that the company is valued in the €75-100m range.

Russmedia invests in digital technology companies beyond the series-A stage, focusing on online marketplaces and software-as-a-service businesses. The GP targets profitable businesses with EBITDA of more than €500m and revenues of more than €2m. Russmedia can make equity investments of up to €50m and aims to grow companies to have EBITDA of more than €2m within three to five years.

Other reselling platforms recently generating significant valuations are Lithuania-based Vinted and UK-headquartered Depop, although both of these companies focus solely on fashion and accessories. VC-backed Depop was acquired by Etsy for more than $1.6bn earlier in June 2021. In May, EQT Growth led a €250m funding round for Vinted, which had a pre-money valuation of €3.5bn.

Previous funding
Shpock was developed by Austria-based Finderly, which raised a seed round backed by Speedinvest in 2012. Adevinta (which was part of Schibsted until 2019) acquired Shpock in 2015 in a deal that valued the business at around €200m. At the time, the company employed 45 staff.

Company
Founded in 2012 by Katharina Klausberger and Armin Strbac, Shpock is an online classifieds marketplace that allows users to buy and sell a range of goods including consumer electronics, baby and toddler items, and fashion and accessories. The business is headquartered in Vienna and operates in Germany, Austria and the UK, with an additional London office. It employs fewer than 200 staff, according to LinkedIn.

People
Russmedia Equity Partners – Nicola Szekely (managing partner).
Adevinta – Rolv Erik Ryssdal (CEO).

Advisers
Equity – HerbstKinsky (legal); DWF (legal); KPMG (financial due diligence).