Naspers [JSE:NPN] announced on Tuesday morning that its classifieds business OLX Group would invest R1.4bn in pre-owned car purchasing service Webuycars.
The announcement by the group is another significant move towards investing in electronic commerce businesses and services.
According to the company itself, Webuycars was founded in 2001 by Faan and Dirk van der Walt and grew into a business that sells close to 3000 motor vehicles each month.
Van der Walt, who is also Webuycars’s CEO, said in a statement from Naspers that the investment underscored South Africa’s market potential in great e-commerce businesses.
“We are extremely excited about this investment from the OLX Group as it will enable us to improve the experience of our customers and fund our future growth plans,” said Van der Walt.
OLX Group CEO Martin Scheepbouwer said OLX was impressed with the team’s focus on the customer and its lean operating model.
“We believe that the technology and services from specialised car buying services like Webuycars can help improve the experience of classifieds users across our OLX platforms,” said Scheepbouwer.
Scheepbouwer praised leadership at Webuycars for their ability to empower car dealers and bring further convenience and trust to used car buying and selling in South Africa.