Prosus Signals Interest in Mobile.de Amid Rising Investor Activity

Post by : Bianca Suleiman

Investors are circling Mobile.de as its proprietors consider either a partial divestment or an initial public offering next year. Dutch tech investor Prosus has reportedly shown early-stage interest, underscoring intensified attention on Europe’s online used-car classifieds market.

Mobile.de, Germany’s leading automotive classified site, is held by private equity firms Permira and Blackstone after their 2023 acquisition from Norway’s Adevinta. Market estimates place the platform’s value at as much as €10 billion ($11.66 billion), fuelling speculation about potential bids and an IPO.

Industry contacts say Prosus could move through its classifieds unit OLX if it decides to make an offer, joining other potential suitors such as EQT, Cinven and Apax. No formal auction or sale timetable has been announced, but the chatter highlights Mobile.de’s strategic importance in the regional auto ecosystem.

The approach follows Prosus’s recent acquisition of French used-car marketplace La Centrale for €1.1 billion — part of a broader push into Europe’s digital car-trading sector. Meanwhile, Permira and Blackstone have been reshaping Mobile.de’s portfolio, selling its Spanish operations to EQT and its Austrian business, Willhaben, to a group of investors.

As consolidation pressure grows across Europe’s online auto market, interest from multiple private equity and trade players emphasises the sector’s investment appeal, even as an IPO remains the frontrunner for Mobile.de’s next strategic move.