Prosus seeking buyer for Avito classifieds service

MOSCOW. May 20 (Interfax) - Prosus, a division of South Africa holding Naspers, has begun seeking a buyer for the Russian classifieds service Avito, the company said in a statement.

The process began after Prosus announced on March 25, 2022 that Avito would be separated from its OLX Group.

In particular, it was reported that as a result of the spin-off Avito will continue to operate as an independent Russian legal entity; Vladimir Pravdivy will continue heading up the company with the current team of top managers.

In Russia, Avito's main legal entity is KEH eKommerz LLC, which is 100% owned by Dutch OLX Global B.V.

Avito's press office told Interfax that Prosus would be looking for a buyer for its Russian asset or part of it.

Spinning Avito off as a standalone business and then selling it would "not affect the plans and opportunities" for Avito to grow in Russia, it said.

Avito has been operating in Russia for 15 years. The number of active ads on Avito exceeds 90 million, and the daily audience of the platform is 22 million people.

Naspers consolidated Avito in 2019.