Sequoia and Lone Pine also signaled their plans to invest at least 50 million euros in the imminent IPO of Auto1.
Photographer: Igor Golovniov / SOPA Images / LightRocket via Getty Images
Photographer: Igor Golovniov / SOPA Images / LightRocket via Getty Images
Sequoia Capital agreed to invest in it Auto1 Group SE, with a valuation of about 6 billion euros ($ 7.2 billion) ahead of the initial public offering of the German online car trading platform, said people with knowledge of the issue.
The American venture capital firm and the rival fund Lone Pine Capital reached a preliminary agreement for each purchase of about 50 million euros from Auto1stock to the early investor DN Capital, according to people, who asked not to be identified because the information is private. They have agreed to a six-month closure period, according to people.
Sequoia and Lone Pine also signaled plans to invest at least 50 million euros in the imminent IPO of Auto1, people said.
The move marks a vote of confidence in Auto1, which is backed by Japanese billionaire Masayoshi Son SoftBank Group Corp. and the business of buying and selling cars online. Auto1 said last week that it intends to raise nearly 1 billion euros from a Frankfurt stock sale in the first quarter.
An Auto1 spokesman declined to comment. A DN Capital official did not immediately respond to a request for comment, while representatives of Sequoia and Lone Pine could not be contacted immediately during a U.S. holiday.
DN Capital became one of Auto1’s first sponsors when it invested in the company in 2013, the year after the German startup was founded, according to its website. The venture capital firm previously invested in app developers Shazam Entertainment Ltd., which created a music identification service later purchased by Shazam Entertainment Apple Inc. He also helped fund online real estate agents in the UK Purplebricks Group Plc and international money transfer service Remitly Inc.