Sequoia and Lone Pine have also signaled plans to invest at least 50m euros each in Auto1’s imminent IPO.
Photographer: Igor Golovniov / SOPA Images / LightRocket through Getty Images
Photographer: Igor Golovniov / SOPA Images / LightRocket through Getty Images
Sequoia Capital has agreed to invest in Auto1 Group SE at a valuation of about 6 billion euros (7.2 billion dollars) before the initial public offering of the German online car trading platform, said people with knowledge about this issue.
US venture capital firm and rival fund Lone Pine Capital reached a preliminary transaction to buy about 50 million euros Auto1stock from early investor DN Capital, according to the people, who asked not to be identified, because the information is private. They agreed to a six-month closure period, people said.
Sequoia and Lone Pine also reported plans to invest at least 50 million euros each in Auto1’s impending IPO, people said.
The move marks a vote of confidence in Auto1, which is backed by Japanese billionaire Masayoshi Son’s SoftBank Group Corp. and the activity of buying and selling cars online. automobile1 said last week that it aims to raise about 1 billion euros from a sale of shares in Frankfurt 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 for Sequoia and Lone Pine could not be contacted immediately during a US legal holiday.
DN Capital became one of the first supporters of Auto1 when it invested in the company in 2013, the year after the establishment of the German startup, according to website. The venture capital firm previously invested in the application developer Shazam Entertainment Ltd., which created a music identification service later purchased by Apple Inc. He also helped fund the UK’s online real estate agent Purplebricks Group Plc and the international money transfer service Remitly Inc.