Malaysia’s Carsome Turns Unicorn in Deal to Buy ICar Stake
- Carsome to get 19.9% of iCar in share-swap deal with Catcha
- Online car marketplace becomes Malaysia’s first tech unicorn
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Southeast Asian used car marketplace Carsome Group has become Malaysia’s first technology unicorn as part of a share-swap deal that will see the startup take a stake in iCar Asia Ltd.
Carsome agreed to acquire 19.9% of Australia-listed automotive portal iCar from Catcha Group, the largest shareholder of ICar with a 30% stake. In return, Catcha will become a shareholder of six-year-old Carsome, boosting the startup’s valuation to more than $1 billion. Following the share swap, Carsome will offer to buy the remaining 80.1% in iCar from existing shareholders, a transaction valued at more than $200 million, according to a statement from the company on Tuesday.