Lenders Line Up $2.6 Billion Debt for EBay Classifieds Bidders

Private equity firms competing to win the auction of EBay Inc.’s classified-advertising business may raise up to 2.3 billion euros ($2.6 billion) of debt to fund the deal, according to people familiar with the situation.

Final bids are due in the first week of July. The remaining participants include a sponsor consortium comprising Blackstone Group Inc, Permira and Hellman & Friedman LLC, global consumer internet group Prosus NV, and online classifieds company Adevinta ASA, according to five of the people.

Spokespeople for H&F, Prosus, Adevinta and Blackstone declined to comment when contacted by Bloomberg News. Permira didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

EBay said in February it was in active talks with multiple parties about a potential deal for its classifieds business as it responded to pressure from activist investors to focus on its main online marketplace.

A successful bid by the private equity grouping would bring a large loan to the market in one of the first M&A-linked financings seen since the coronavirus pandemic struck Europe in March. The size of the potential deal, and the company’s need for funding in different currencies, means the debt will come in a mix of euros and dollars, said one of the people familiar.

The overall buyout could be among the largest deals in Europe involving private equity firms this year, with the unit potentially fetching as much as 10 billion euros. Bidders are coming with large equity portions, the people said.

The unit is valued at more than 20 times earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization, with banks working with an Ebitda estimate of about 425 million euros, two of the people said. At that valuation, the financing would include a large equity portion, they said.

Source: Bloomberg

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