Cleary Gottlieb acted as U.S. and U.K. counsel to Schibsted ASA (Schibsted) and Adevinta ASA (Adevinta) in connection with the spin-off and offering of shares of Adevinta.
Adevinta, the international online classifieds business of the Schibsted media group, was demerged from Schibsted on April 9. As part of the demerger and spin-off, 35% of the shares of Adevinta were transferred to Schibsted’s shareholders.
The demerger was followed by a public offering in Norway and an institutional offering outside Norway of Adevinta B-shares. Schibsted sold 34,057,394 B-shares in the offering, retaining 60.0% ownership of the shares of Adevinta following the offering (excluding exercise of the over-allotment option). Schibsted’s largest shareholder, Blommenholm Industrier AS, sold 2,835,687 B-shares in the offering, retaining 7.9% ownership of the shares of Adevinta following the offering (excluding exercise of the over-allotment option).
The offer price was NOK 78 per share, valuing Adevinta at more than $6 billion, making the IPO the largest in the Nordic region in ten years, and the largest IPO in Norway since 2006. The offering closed on April 12, 2019.
Adevinta is a global online classifieds company with generalist, real estate, cars, jobs, and other internet marketplaces in 16 countries, connecting buyers seeking goods or services with a large base of sellers. Its portfolio spans 36 digital products and websites, attracting 1.5 billion average monthly visits. Leading brands include Leboncoin in France, InfoJobs and Milanuncios in Spain, and 50% of OLX in Brazil.