In another move signalling consolidation in the online auto classifieds space, Jaipur-based CarDekho is acquiring Zigwheels, an auto portal owned by Times Internet. This is the second big acquisition by Girnar Soft, which runs the CarDekho, BikeDekho and PriceDekho sites, after it bought out Naspers-backed Gaadi.com a year ago.
The combined entity of CarDekho, Gaadi.com, and Zigwheels would compete with the likes of Cartrade.com and Carwale.com, besides the horizontal online classifieds services like Quikr and Olx.
TOI could not ascertain the exact financial details of the transaction. When contacted, Amit Jain, co-founder & CEO, CarDekho, confirmed the news, and said, “The Zigwheels acquisition is a strategic step for us to enhance our content to be richer and more engaging so that we help car and bike buyers. Zigwheels will work as an independent entity within the group.“
Times Internet is a part of the Times Group, which publishes this newspaper.
Zigwheels' traffic is estimated at 8 million monthly visits while the auto classified major registers around 25 million monthly visits along with Gaadi.com. Besides Zigwheels.com, the Times group also publishes a supplement by the same name which will remain with the media group.
Earlier this year, Cardekho was valued at $300 million, when it received $50 million in a fresh financing round led by China's Hillhouse Capital, which manages $14 billion in assets, Tybourne Capital and its existing investor venture fund Sequoia Capital. Ratan Tata and HDFC Bank, India's second largest private bank by assets, have also picked up minority stakes in the classifieds major.
Over the past few months, the online classifieds space has seen horizontal players like Quikr strengthen their vertical play with a focus on home, cars, jobs and real estate as they double down on the market. Quikr Cars is one such vertical the Craigslistlike portal has been pushing through mass media advertising as it looks to shore up revenues.
