Daft.ie To Be Sold? Owner 'Exploring Options' for $660M+ Sale, Sources tell Reuters

The Irish market-leading portal Daft may be up for sale.

According to anonymous sources who spoke to Reuters last week, the portal—which is partly owned by Distilled and Adevinta—is in discussions about the future structure of the business as well as a potential sale value, which could reach up to €600 million (USD 662m).

Reuters cited four anonymous sources, three of whom confirmed that Daft had hired Barclays to act as financial advisors as the firm looks to understand its market value better.

Daft is a clear market leader in Ireland, achieving web visits well over double its nearest rival in August, according to Similarweb:

Who owns Daft.ie?

Daft.ie is a joint venture consisting of two major shareholders.

The first, Distilled, is a custodian of Irish internet brands with a portfolio of classifieds sites including Daft, Adverts.ie and DoneDeal.ie.

The other, Adevinta, may be on the lookout to divest from the portal after its takeover by private consortium Permira and Blackstone last year.

One of the sources said 'active discussions' among owners were underway about the future shareholder structure of the business and whether Distilled would retain a stake in the business after a potential sale.

Another source suggested private equity firms that could unlock growth potential in the portal would be among potential bidders.

Adevinta, which released its final public financial statement this May before going private, has been rumoured to be willing to deconstruct its conglomeration of marketplace business under new ownership, but details have been thin on the ground.

Should Daft be under serious consideration for a sale, it may be an indicator that other Adevinta-owned businesses—including real estate verticals in Spain (Fotocasa and Habitaclia), Brazil (VivaReal, and Zap joint venture), France (A Vendre A Louer) as well as many leading horizontal classifieds platforms (Leboncoin in France and Kleinanzeigen in Germany) and car and job verticals mainly in Europe—may also go under the microscope for divestment in the coming years.