Thursday, April 18

Shriram Automall acquires Online Car Selling Portal

Pre-owned vehicle exchange platform Shriram Automall India Ltd (SAMIL) has acquired BlueJack, an online car selling portal.

The company did not disclose the financial details of the deal.

With this acquisition, Shriram Automall targets to transact yearly over 1.2 million vehicles worth more than Rs 30,000 crore. At present 70 lakh used cars are sold in India every year and the market is expected to be valued at Rs 50,000 crore in 2022, the company said in a statement.

Commenting on the acquisition, Shriram Automall CEO Sameer Malhotra said, “Together, we believe we can offer the best auction experience for our Indian market with innovative technology.”

The deal will give over 10 million customers of SAMIL, on its physical and online bidding platforms, and its affiliates additional means of selling car, the company said.

Started in 2016, BlueJack had auctioned more than 25,000 vehicles on its platform. It operates in Delhi with dealers from 10 states.

Manish Kheterpal, Managing Partner of WaterBridge Ventures which is a lead investor in BlueJack said as the fragmented used car industry formalises both on the consumer and dealers end, using a blend of technology, data, and old-fashioned human touch is the most effective way to solve trust deficit and friction in the industry.

“Synergies between SAMIL and BlueJack are highly compelling, and together they would be a formidable force in this rapidly growing used cars industry,” he added.

BlueJack is expected to fully integrate with SAMIL’s operations and group companies in first half of 2020.