Aramis Group - Acquisition of Onlinecars, the Austrian market leader for refurbished vehicle sales
PRESS RELEASE
Arcueil, June 27, 2022
Aramis Group announces its acquisition of Onlinecars,
the Austrian market leader for refurbished vehicle sales
- Austria’s leading independent distributor, selling more than 10,000 used vehicles in 2021, with revenues of over €200 million and an EBITDA margin of over 3%
- Highly complementary strategic and operational features with Aramis Group, thanks in particular to Onlinecars’ dense sourcing network for German brand vehicles and its refurbishing center
- Similar entrepreneurial culture, focused on satisfying customers’ needs and building employee engagement to help drive strong and sustainable growth
- Operation entirely financed through an increase in the credit lines made available to Aramis Group by Stellantis, which is continuing to provide strong support for the Group’s development
- Acquisition that will further strengthen the strategy for market consolidation and acceleration on the B2C refurbished car sales segment announced at the time of the IPO, with the new combined structure to achieve full-year revenues of close to €2 billion pro forma in 2022
Aramis Group [Ticker: ARAMI – ISIN: FR0014003U94], European leader for B2C online used car sales, operating the Aramisauto, Cardoen, Clicars and CarSupermarket brands in France, Belgium, Spain and the UK respectively, is announcing its acquisition of Onlinecars, the Austrian market leader for refurbished used vehicle sales.
Nicolas Chartier and Guillaume Paoli, co-founders1 of Aramis Group: “In line with the strategy presented at the time of its IPO, Aramis Group is moving forward with its international expansion through a commitment to acquire Onlinecars, the market leader for refurbished vehicle sales in Austria. There will be synergies on a number of levels between the companies, with this operation helping in particular further extend the selection of vehicles offered by Aramis Group. We would like to welcome on board Onlinecars’ teams, its founder Peter Marolin and its co-director Thomas Lang, who we have known for a long time and who we share the same passion with for the automotive sector and the same outstanding customer focus. With this operation, Aramis Group is consolidating its leading position in Europe and taking a further step towards achieving its ambition to become Europe’s preferred platform for buying used cars online.”
Peter Marolin, Onlinecars founder: “Joining a major listed group, which is itself owned by one of the world’s largest auto manufacturers, marks the start of a fascinating new chapter for Onlinecars. This business combination is founded on a real entrepreneurial compatibility, characterized by a shared vision of our markets' potential, a desire to grow by effectively satisfying our customers, and above all a commitment to sharing and learning each day through the best practices built up by each company. It is with a clear vision for the future that we will be working together, with Nicolas Chartier and Guillaume Paoli, to ensure the quick and successful integration of Onlinecars within Aramis Group with a long-term focus, in order to maximize our potential and contribute to our European ambition”.
Highly complementary operational features around shared ambitions
Following on from Spain, Belgium and the UK, Aramis Group is continuing to move forward with its European expansion by conquering the Austrian market. Anchored in Central Europe, it will enable Aramis Group to ramp up its expansion in this strategic region.
Founded in 2005 by Peter Marolin, Onlinecars has a leading position in Austria for B2C online used car sales. Supported by a solid business model, the company generated more than €200 million of revenues in 2021, combined with a positive EBITDA margin of over 3%. The company is structured around a web platform, a refurbishing center and three customer centers. Its site attracts 150,000 visitors on average each month and the company has more than 80 staff.
The acquisition of Onlinecars will open up a number of operational synergies with Aramis Group and extensive opportunities for sharing experience, as achieved with the Group’s previous acquisitions.
Aramis Group will enable Onlinecars to benefit from its industrial flow management and refurbishing process optimization expertise, as well as its know-how and the tools from its technological and data platform. Alongside this, Onlinecars will help consolidate the major network of suppliers and brands built up by Aramis Group, which represents one of its many competitive advantages.
Lastly, the two companies have highly compatible cultures, with their customer focus and shared ambition for growth. As a reminder, Aramis Group has a proven track record with acquisitions, following the successful integration of Clicars (Spain) in 2017, Cardoen (Belgium) in 2018 and MotorDepot/CarSupermarket (UK) in 2021.
Acquisition conditions
Aramis Group has made a commitment, subject to minor conditions precedent, particularly concerning antitrust aspects, to acquire all of the capital of Onlinecars. The founder and management team will continue to head up the company in order to successfully implement the integration plan drawn up as agreed with them. Earnout mechanisms have been put in place accordingly, with a timeframe of the end of the 2024 calendar year.
Onlinecars has been valued on multiples consistent with the target's profile and the current environment. The transaction is fully financed through an increase in Aramis Group’s credit lines with Stellantis, which will continue to be a powerful support to Aramis Group's development, accompanying its strategic international expansion and contributing to the financing of its operations.
Considering the acquisition’s provisional timeline, Onlinecars is expected to be consolidated by Aramis Group from the start of its 2022-23 fiscal year2. Based on the business guidance for the current fiscal year (i.e. organic revenues of over €1.7 billion), pro forma for Onlinecars’ revenues, Aramis Group’s future scope will move towards the milestone of €2 billion of revenues per year, generated in five European countries.
Rothschild was Aramis Group's financial advisor on this operation, with Hoche Avocats providing legal advice.
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About Aramis Group
Aramis Group is the leading European B2C platform for online used car sales, operating the Aramisauto, Cardoen, Clicars and CarSupermarket brands, in France, Belgium, Spain and the UK respectively. The Group is transforming the used car market and harnessing digital technology to support customer satisfaction with a fully vertically integrated business model. For the first half of FY 2022, Aramis Group generated revenues of €873 million, sold more than 41,000 vehicles B2C, and recorded more than 40 million visits to its websites. At end-March 2022, the Group had more than 1,800 employees, a network of 60 agencies and four industrial refurbishing sites. Aramis Group is listed on Euronext Paris Compartment A (Ticker: ARAMI – ISIN: FR0014003U94). For more information, visit .
Disclaimer
Certain information included in this press release is not historical data but forward-looking statements. These forwardlooking statements are based on current beliefs and assumptions, including, but not limited to, assumptions about current and future business strategies and the environment in which Aramis Group operates, and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which may cause actual results or performance, or the results or other events, to be materially different from those expressed or implied in such forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include those discussed or identified in Chapter 3 “Risk Factors” of the Universal Registration Document dated January 26, 2022, approved by the AMF under number R. 22-004 and available on the Group’s website () and on the AMF website (), and in particular the risks identified under paragraphs 3.1.1 “Risks related to general economic conditions and their trend”, 3.1.2 “Risks relating to trends in the automotive industry”, 3.2.1 “Risks related to the procurement of used cars” and 3.2.2 “Risks related to price changes on the used cars market”. These forward-looking statements and information are not guarantees of future performance. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this press release. This press release does not contain or constitute an offer of securities or an invitation or inducement to invest in securities in France, the United States or any other jurisdiction.
Investors contact
Alexandre Leroy
Head of Investor Relations
+33 (0)6 58 80 50 24
Press contacts
Brunswick
Hugues Boëton +33 (0)6 79 99 27 15
Alexia Gachet +33 (0)6 33 06 55 93
1 Nicolas Chartier is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Company, and Guillaume Paoli is Deputy Chief Executive Officer, based on a two-year rotation
2 Aramis Group’s fiscal year runs from October 1 to September 30.
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