Singapore's Carousell merges with Asia assets of Telenor

The deal is said to value the combined entity at $850 million. Carousell previously raised $126 million across three rounds of funding from the likes of Rakuten Ventures, 500 Startups, Golden Gate Ventures, Sequoia Capital India, DBS Group, and Quest Ventures. Its Series C, led by Rakuten Ventures, closed at $85 million in May 2018.

Telenor will take a 32% stake in Carousell, making it the largest minority shareholder. The company's own classifieds business, 701Search, will merge its operations with Carousell. 701Search controls Mudah in Malaysia, Chotot in Vietnam and OneKyat in Myanmar. Carousell's main markets are Singapore and Hong Kong, but it also has a presence in Australia, Canada, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, and Taiwan.

Carousell was established in 2012 as a consumer-to-consumer marketplace that would serve as an alternative to existing online forums and classified listing sites. It now has more than 250 million listings across categories such as cars, lifestyle, gadgets and fashion accessories.

"With Telenor Group's extensive experience in each local market, coupled with Carousell's relentless focus to use technology to make selling and buying easy and frictionless, we are confident that together we will create an even more vibrant marketplace for the community across Malaysia, Myanmar and Vietnam," Quek Siu Rui, co-founder and CEO of Carousell, who will lead the combined entity, said in a statement.

Telenor primarily operates in the Nordic and Asian markets, with interests in mobile, broadband and TV services. The company's revenue reached NOK110.4 billion ($12.1 billion) in 2018 – emerging Asia and developed Asia account for approximately 22% and 31%, respectively – and its net income came to NOK14.7 billion. There are 174 million mobile users.

701Search was formed in 2006 as a joint venture between Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) and Norway's Schibsted Classified Media. Telenor came in as an equal partner in 2013. Four years later, it assumed full ownership, paying NOK1.75 billion for its partners' stakes. The transaction closed at the end of June 2017. Over the next six months, 701Search contributed NOK66 million in revenue and posted a loss of NOK37 million.

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• Topics
• Southeast Asia
• Technology
• Consumer
• Expansion
• Singapore
• TMT
• Rakuten
• 500 Startups
• Sequoia Capital
• Golden Gate Ventures