Sydney-listed Frontier Digital Ventures (FDV), which operates thirteen online real estate and automotive classified platforms in emerging markets, has raised USD 67 million through an institutional entitlement offer, according to a filing.
An institutional entitlement offer allows only big investors or institutions to buy shares from a firm which helps the firm to raise capital. The new capital will be used to acquire three different online marketplaces including real estate marketplace Fincaraíz in Colombia, general classifieds portal Avito in Morocco, and Tayara in Tunisia.
Founded in 2014, the Kuala Lumpur-based firm operates online marketplaces in verticals including property, automotive and more, with a focus on emerging markets such as Myanmar, Vietnam, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and the Philippines. Since the firm’s debut on the Australian stock exchange, the firm’s valuation has increased 10 times from USD 36 million to over USD 360 million, according to the announcement.
“It has been great to build a global business from Malaysia, with primarily Malaysian leadership. In many instances, we were one of the first internet investors in some of these markets, such as Pakistan and Myanmar. These latest acquisitions see FDV evolve into becoming a leading operator of emerging market marketplaces,” explained Shaun Di Gregorio, CEO and co-founder of FDV.
In Asia, advertisement spending in the classifieds segment is projected to reach USD 8.7 billion in 2020 and is expected to grow to USD 11.63 billion by 2025, with a 5.8% annual growth rate, according to data from Statista.