AutoTrader.com parent Cox buys stake in Mahindra First Choice

Cox Automotive, the parent company of AutoTrader and Kelley Blue Book, has acquired a stake in Mahindra First Choice Wheels Ltd.

The transaction, through a secondary sale, saw one of Mahindra First Choice's early investors, HDFC, selling its entire stake. Phi Advisors, an initial private equity investor in the company, sold a part of its stake.

US-based Cox Automotive is a subsidiary of Atlanta based Cox Enterprises, Inc. (CEI). Its annual revenue is $ 17 billion. The company owns AutoTrader.com, the largest digital automotive marketplace in the US, and vehicle research platform Kelley Blue Book. It also owns brands such as Manheim, Dealertrack,  vAuto and Xtime.

Mahindra First Choice Wheels owns IndianBlueBook.com, an online vehicle valuation company and other brands such as eDiig, and Autoinspekt. The company has over 650 franchise outlets in 300 towns across India. Recently, it launched a commercial vehicle franchise business in addition to its multi-brand pre-owned passenger cars business.

Mahindra First Choice had raised Rs 94 crore from San Francisco-based hedge fund Valiant Capital in March. The deal gave Valiant a 13.36% stake, valuing the company at about Rs. 700 crore at the time. Mahindra First Choice reported a profit of Rs. 1.92 crore on revenue of Rs. 44 crore in the fiscal 2015. Its revenue is expected to hit Rs. 70 crore this year.