Malaysia-headquartered integrated car e-commerce unicorn Carsome Group has acquired a 51 per cent stake in Singapore-based auto solutions company CarTimes Automobile.
The transaction details remain undisclosed.
This follows Carsome’s recent announcement of completing its acquisition of iCar Asia.
Commenting on the new deal, Carsome Co-Founder and Group CEO Eric Cheng said: “This partnership will enable us to deepen our footprint in the Singapore auto market and augment our ability to bring trust, choice, and transparency together to customers.”
According to CarTimes Founder and Managing Director Eddie Loo, this partnership is crucial in assisting it in serving customers better and providing them with the resources to digitise and improve the two-decade-old relationship they have with their customers.
Also Read: Carsome completes acquisition of ASX-listed content automotive platform iCar Asia
Established in 2001, CarTimes offers a suite of auto solutions ranging from new and used car retail, rental, financing, insurance to repair, maintenance and workshops. It has retail showrooms and after-sales service centres across Singapore.
Carsome is one of the largest integrated car e-commerce platforms in Southeast Asia. It provides end-to-end solutions to consumers and used car dealers, from car inspection to ownership transfer to financing.
The company currently has more than 3,000 employees and has operations across Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and Singapore.
In 2020, Carsome acquired an all-equity stake in Universal Collection, a Jakarta-based car and motorcycle auction service. This came a few months after it secured US$290 million in a Series E financing round, bringing its valuation to approximately US$1.7 billion.
In a September 2021 report, Reuters hinted that Carsome’s profitability on an operational level was set to be realised in 2022.
The Southeast Asia automobiles trading value reached an estimated US$55 billion annually, according to Momentum Works Southeast Asia Used Cars Report 2020.
—
Ready to meet new startups to invest in? We have more than hundreds of startups ready to connect with potential investors on our platform. Create or claim your Investor profile today and turn on e27 Connect to receive requests and fundraising information from them.
The post Carsome acquires majority stake in Singapore’s CarTimes Automobile appeared first on e27.