Online marketplace, Jiji, has acquired cars45, an online marketplace for buying and selling used cars at an undisclosed amount.
The two companies had reached an agreement, under which they will merge their operations in Kenya, Ghana and Nigeria.
The merger of operations promises a new level of trade experience for auto buyers and sellers across the three countries. Joining the Jiji family will allow Cars45 users to benefit from Jiji’s market-leading products in online classifieds. In turn, Cars45 brings a unique O2O car buying and selling service, where cars can safely be sold instantly to dealers or via a consumer marketplace to other consumers.
Together, users in the auto sector can expect a new level of convenience in buying and selling cars, combining online and offline capabilities.
According to Anton Volyansky, CEO and co-founder of Jiji, they are looking forward to creating a new advanced experience for Cars45 users.
“Undoubtedly, our collaboration on future products and services will bring additional value to the consumers. For Jiji, it’s the first bold step into the transactional business model and an important foundation for building the future of the company.”
Vladimir Mnogoletniy, co-founder and board member of Jiji, revealed that the merger is the next logical step in Jiji development as the leading e-commerce platform on the continent.
“Our strategy implies moving further into transactional marketplace models and Cars45 merger is an important step in its realisation. We’re excited by the perspectives of the joint business and by the variety of additional options that both Jiji and Cars45 customers will have.”
Maksym Golubev, country manager of Jiji Kenya said that they believe this will offer a new car buying and selling experience, where we will be able to inspect cars on behalf of buyers, making us the safest online platform to buy cars in Africa.
“With this kind of unparalleled experience, our market reach will exponentially grow since we will be exploring a business outside our usual classifieds model and our car sellers will benefit from it by selling their cars faster now than ever before.”
Soumobroto Ganguly, CEO of Cars45, commented: “We are proud to have built a trusted buying and selling experience in autos. It makes sense to combine online and offline expertise. Merging with Jiji is aimed at creating a new kind of automotive retail experience for users in Africa. We are confident of jointly building an African Champion in the O2O Automotive Sector. Together we look forward to making transactions transparent and convenient for our customers, dealers and franchisees across all our current and future markets.
According to Jiji CFO David Ojo, Cars45’s key value is its network of inspection centres where cars are inspected by more than 200 parameters. Unlike a classifieds marketplace where checks are inadequately carried out, transactional models employed by platforms like Cars45 ensure quality checks and detailed reports on a car’s condition with various databases.
Following the closing of the transaction, the operations of Cars45 and Jiji will merge to create a single organisation which will offer unique services for car sellers, buyers and dealers in Ghana, Kenya and Nigeria.
