DoneDeal, Ireland’s largest classified ads website, has sold a majority stakeholding to Norwegian firm Schibsted Media Group. Schibsted has acquired a 50.09% stake in DoneDeal with financial arrangements remaining undisclosed.
DoneDeal is one of Ireland’s great indigenous success stories. The company was founded in 2005 by Fred and Geraldine Karlsson and has grown phenomenally ever since. The fiscal year ending April 2011 reveals revenues of just over €3 million and a business that is growing by 124% each year.
DoneDeal receives over two million unique visitors each month, posting some 85,000 new items in a similar period.
Fred Karlsson will continue to manage the company and retain a major shareholding. It is understood that all ten staff members currently based in Wexford will continue their employment.
Fred Karlsson stated that the deal would “better service and experience” for customers and would help bring the website “to the next level of growth” that they aspire to.