SoftBank-backed German online car dealer Auto1 to go public in Q1; aims to raise €1B

In a recent move, Auto1 Group, a German online car trading platform, has announced its plan to go public in the first quarter of 2021.

The Berlin based platform helps consumers and dealers in buying and selling used cars online. The company intends to list its share on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, aiming to raise $1.2B (approx €1B) from the stock sales.

Notably, the company intends to invest approximately €750M of the net proceeds to further accelerate the growth of its business, especially of its retail business Autohero, and is expected to use the remainder to repay an existing convertible loan.

Generated €3.5B in revenue

The sales in the European market for used cars, including sales among businesses, amounted to approximately €600B in 2019. The used car market in the European Union is expected to grow at a CAGR of 5% between 2019 and 2025

The German company is making use of the vast market opportunity in a highly fragmented market with accelerating offline to online shift. 

Founded by Christian Bertermann and Hakan Koc in 2012, AUTO1 Group connects buyers and sellers of cars throughout Europe. To ensure efficient pricing, it has developed proprietary algorithms that automatically evaluate used cars and overall market demand in real-time.

As per the company’s claims, it has sold over 615K cars and generated revenue somewhere around €3.5B in 2019. The company operates in almost 30 countries and continues to expand rapidly.

Christian Bertermann, CEO and co-Founder of AUTO1 Group, says “The planned IPO is the next logical step to reinforce AUTO1 Group as the go-to online destination for buying and selling used cars in Europe.”

Softbank invested €460M

Back in 2018, Japanese conglomerate Softbank invested €460M in the Berlin-based company, valuing the company at €2.9B. Notably, SoftBank took a 20% stake in the company at the time.

AUTO1 Group owns business units like AUTO1.com, Autohero.com, and wirkaufendeinauto.de. Between 2014 and 2019, its revenues grew to €3,476M at a CAGR of approximately 93%. 

Markus Boser, CFO at AUTO1 Group, says: “The planned IPO will support AUTO1 Group’s growth plans, including expanding our retail business Autohero, which we believe presents a huge opportunity that we can seize based on our existing platform.”