Norway's Adevinta buys eBay classifieds unit in $9.2B deal

LONDON (AP) - EBay Inc. is selling its classifieds business to Norway's Adevinta in a deal worth $9.2 billion that will create the world's largest online classifieds group, the companies said Tuesday.

Under the terms of the deal, the U.S. company will get $2.5 billion in cash and become the largest shareholder in Adevinta, with a 44% equity stake and a third of the voting rights.

The combined company will have classified ad websites in 20 countries, covering 1 billion people and receiving about 3 billion monthly visits.

'œWith the acquisition of eBay Classifieds Group, Adevinta becomes the largest online classifieds company globally, with a unique portfolio of leading marketplace brands,'ť Adevinta CEO Rolv Erik Ryssdal said.

EBay's classified brands include Gumtree in Australia and the U.K., Marktplaats in the Netherlands, Mobile.de in Germany, Vivanuncios in Mexico and Canada's Kijii.

Adevinta ASA owns Leboncoin.fr, France's biggest online classifieds site, and classified businesses in more than a dozen other countries in Europe, North Africa and Latin America. It was spun off last year from Norwegian media company Schibsted.