The transaction is expected to be concluded by the end of 2020, following the approval of Romania’s antitrust watchdog.
OLX Group will be the sole shareholder of Kiwi Finance and the latter’s management team will remain unchanged, with Anca Bidian staying on as Chief Executive Officer.
Kiwi Finance was established by Anca Bidian in 2003, and in 2007, Oresa acquired the majority stake in Kiwi Finance. During its 17-year activity on the Romanian market, KIWI Finance had brokered loans worth over EUR1.35 billion.
OLX Group, headquartered in The Netherlands, operates in over 30 countries, and in Romania, it owns the OLX, Storia.ro and Autovit.ro platforms.
“This transaction comes after several communications projects developed jointly with OLX Group platforms in Romania, namely, Storia.ro and OLX Imobiliare, respectively. We are convinced we have the best partner needed to fulfil our growth objectives and we are glad that KIWI Finance’s digital transformation will be backed by OLX Group’s local team,” stated KIWI Finance CEO Anca Bidian.
With support from the new shareholder, KIWI Finance seeks to speed up the company’s digital transformation, while keeping the same general growth objectives: the geographic expansion countrywide, the streamlining of operations process and the extension of the network of financial partners with which it collaborates.
Oresa’s portfolio also includes La Fantana and Romanian Business Consult. In the past, Oresa held in Romania companies such as Fabryo-Atlas, Somaco, Duraziv, Motoractive, Credisson, Flanco, Brewery Holding (Ciuc) and Medicover.
OLX Group owns over 20 brands, among which Avito, OLX, Autovit.ro and Property24. All platforms of the group are accessed by 300 million customers worldwide. OLX Group is a division of Prosus, a global internet services group for consumers and one of the world’s largest technology investors.