Scout24 AG completes sale of AutoScout24
DGAP-News: Scout24 AG / Key word(s): Mergers & Acquisitions/Disposal Scout24 AG completes sale of AutoScout24
Munich, 1 April 2020 - Scout24 AG announces the closing of the sale of 100% of AutoScout24, FinanceScout24 and Finanzcheck (together "AutoScout24") to affiliates of Hellman & Friedman. Control of the carved-out unit of AutoScout24 is transferred to the buyer as of today, 1 April 2020. Scout24 AG confirms receipt of payment of the purchase price, adjusted by net working capital and net debt, in the amount of EUR 2.84bn. With the closing of the transaction, Scout24 now initiates a large capital return programme as previously announced. This includes repayment of debt in the amount of up to EUR 780 million. Furthermore, besides the proposed dividend payment of EUR 94.3 million, share buybacks in the amount of up to EUR 1.69bn are planned. The first tranche of up to EUR 490 million will start at short notice. The divestment of AutoScout24 ends the company's two verticals strategy and Scout24 will now fully focus on ImmoScout24 to build a comprehensive ecosystem for sale, rent, and commercial real estate in Germany and Austria. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++ About Scout24 Scout24 is one of the leading digital companies in Germany. With ImmoScout24, an online platform for residential and commercial real estate, we successfully bring together owners, realtors, tenants, and buyers to make complex decisions easy - and we have been doing so for more than 20 years. With around 14 million users per month, ImmoScout24 is the market leader for digital real estate marketing and search. To digitise the process of real estate transactions, ImmoScout24 is continually developing new products and building up an ecosystem for renting, buying, and commercial real estate in Germany. Since 2012, ImmoScout24 has also been active in the Austrian real estate market, reaching around 3 million users monthly. The information contained in this release is subject to amendment, revision and updating. Certain statements, beliefs and opinions in this document are forward-looking, which reflect the Company's or, as appropriate, senior management's current expectations and projections about future events. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors that could cause actual results, including but not limited to the Company's financial position or profitability, to differ materially, also adversely, from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Statements contained in this document regarding past trends or activities should not be taken as a representation that such trends or activities will continue in the future. The Company does not undertake any obligation to update or revise any information contained in this document (including forward-looking statements), whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release. Scout24 also uses alternative performance measures, not defined by IFRS, to describe the Scout24 Group's results of operations. These should not be viewed in isolation, but treated as supplementary information. The special items used to calculate some alternative performance measures arise from the integration of acquired businesses, restructuring measures, impairments, gains or losses resulting from divestitures and sales of shareholdings, and other expenses and income that generally do not arise in conjunction with Scout24's ordinary business activities. Alternative performance measures used by Scout24 are defined in the "Glossary" section of Scout24's Group Management Report 2019 which is available at www.scout24.com/financial-reports. Due to rounding, numbers presented throughout this statement may not add up precisely to the totals indicated, and percentages may not precisely reflect the absolute figures for the same reason. Information on the quarterly financials has not been subject to audit and is thus preliminary. 01.04.2020 Dissemination of a Corporate News, transmitted by DGAP - a service of EQS Group AG. |
Language: | English |
Company: | Scout24 AG |
Bothestr. 11-15 | |
81675 Munich | |
Germany | |
Phone: | +49 89 44456 - 0 |
Fax: | +49 89 44456 - 3000 |
E-mail: | [email protected] |
Internet: | www.scout24.com |
ISIN: | DE000A12DM80 |
WKN: | A12DM8 |
Indices: | MDAX |
Listed: | Regulated Market in Berlin, Frankfurt (Prime Standard); Regulated Unofficial Market in Dusseldorf, Hamburg, Hanover, Munich, Stuttgart, Tradegate Exchange; London |
EQS News ID: | 1012283 |
End of News | DGAP News Service |