The break-up of one of Europe’s biggest classified advertising groups will launch this week with the €500m-plus (£414m) sale of Distilled, a major player in the Irish online ad market.
Sky News has learnt that Adevinta, which was previously listed in Oslo and was taken private by Blackstone and Permira, the private equity firms, a year ago, has agreed to sell Distilled to Blacksheep Fund Management.
The deal could be announced as early as Monday.
Distilled operates the platforms Daft.ie, DoneDeal.ie and Adverts.ie, which enable consumers to buy and sell cars and property.
The sale to Blacksheep will represent an important step in a planned break-up of Adevinta, which was bought by the two private equity firms for about $13bn (£10.4bn).
Blacksheep, which is based in Dublin, manages the assets of charitable institutions, and has a long track record of investing in the classified advertising sector.
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Eamonn Fallon, Distilled’s founder and chief executive, will continue to run the company after the sale, according to one insider.
Barclays is understood to have advised Distilled, while Lazard is advising Blacksheep.
A press report this weekend suggested that Apax Partners was close to buying Distilled.
None of the parties involved could be reached for comment on Sunday.