After laying off at least 1,500 employees across the world, including India, Olx, the classifieds unit of Naspers-owned internet group Prosus, is considering the sale of Olx Autos in the country, people aware of the development told FE.
Along with the sale in India, it would also look at shutting down operations in other countries, they added. Olx Autos is a platform that lets users buy and sell used cars, similar to Tiger Global-backed Spinny And SoftBank-funded Cars24. “Most recently, Olx Autos…similar to listed peers, has been affected by ongoing macroeconomic and market challenges,” Naspers said in a post earlier this month.
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“Higher cost of capital, high inflation and reversal of pandemic trends have led to a significant and persistent slowdown in the second-hand car market,” the post added. “OLX Autos has built leading positions across many of its key markets…pursuing a global growth strategy is no longer the right approach for our shareholders. Prosus will explore all options for the OLX Autos business, acknowledging that significant value exists within local markets.”
Olx may also exit other markets in Asia, but the regions could not be immediately ascertained.
The exit comes at a time when the Netherlands-based group is already cutting costs across all divisions and operations. “OLX is taking necessary measures to reduce its cost structure in light of changing macroeconomic conditions. Regrettably, this means we are reducing the size of our workforce across the company…doing so is necessary to meet our future ambitions,” a company spokesperson had told FE when the firm had decided to let 1,500 people go.
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Olx had started global operations in 2006 and entered India in 2009. Olx Group is a division of Prosus, a global consumer Internet group and one of the largest technology investors in the world. Prosus has backed several startups in India like Byju’s, Swiggy, PharmEasy, Meesho, Cashify, Mensa Brands and others.
