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Investor update

Nov 14, 2014

Operator

Good day, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to today's conference call. This call follows on the joint announcement yesterday by Naspers, Schibsted, Telenor, and Singapore Press Holdings that they have reached an agreement to establish joint ventures for the development of their online classifieds platforms in four key markets, namely Brazil, Indonesia, Thailand, and Bangladesh. More details about this agreement are available on each of the company websites. Joining me on today's call from Schibsted is CEO Rolv Erik Ryssdal, CFO Trond Berger, and CEO of Schibsted Classified Media, Terje Seljeseth. Representing Naspers is CEO Bob van Dijk, Classified CEO Martin Scheepbouwer, and Head of M&A Mark Sorour . To start things off, Naspers and Schibsted will make some introductory statements. Thereafter, there will be an opportunity for you to ask questions. I would now like to hand the word over to Bob van Dijk, CEO of Naspers.

Please go ahead.

Bob van Dijk
CEO, Naspers

Thank you. A very good morning, afternoon, or evening to all of you on the call. We are really excited today to have reached the point of bringing together some of the most skilled classifieds players in the world to accelerate our businesses. As many of you know, in the last 3 years, we at Naspers got seriously into classifieds. We've strengthened the capability and the knowledge of our teams. We built very significant awareness of the OLX brand in local markets. We drove major growth across the classifieds businesses, particularly in mobile. As a result, we now have leading positions in around 40 countries worldwide. That's a tremendous asset base.

If we continue to put in best efforts, many of these businesses are very well positioned to achieve the market status and the critical mass that is needed to become successful and profitable operations over time. Some markets we face potentially long and costly roads to create vibrant classifieds businesses. We're teaming up with Schibsted, with Telenor and Singapore Press Holdings. We know they are partners who share our vision and expertise. They're excellent operators. We believe this provides us an opportunity to develop Brazil, Indonesia, Thailand, and Bangladesh at a much faster rate than we otherwise could have. We will be able to share costs, but we also share expertise, and basically, we will educate markets on the concept of online classifieds. We will form one strong, well-resourced platform in each market.

We will make it much faster and easier for our customers to trade and to turn their items into cash. Through this agreement and by working closely together with our new partners, we aim to create more efficient businesses, delivering great benefits for our customers, bring new opportunities for our staff, and in the end, we'll create value for all our stakeholders. With that, I would like to hand over to Rolv Erik Ryssdal, CEO of Schibsted Media Group.

Rolv Erik Ryssdal
CEO, Schibsted

Thanks a lot, Bob. Good morning and good afternoon to everyone. The agreement announced today is very important for the development of online classified marketplaces in a range of emerging markets. Both Schibsted, our existing partners, Telenor and Singapore Press Holdings, as well as Naspers, have been at the forefront in developing high-quality online marketplaces for consumers. Together, we will be able to further develop these marketplaces even more efficiently. This will benefit the hundreds of millions of consumers in these large countries, as well as advertisers who use the sites for marketing. During the last 10 years, we have expanded our online classifieds operations outside our old core markets, Norway and Sweden. Using the competence and experiments accumulated over many years, we have become successful market players in a range of significant European markets.

In many countries, our sites have become household brands being used by millions of people every day. We've also established our online classified operations in many markets in Latin America, Asia, and Africa. Many of these are now included in the joint ventures announced today. We're confident that this partnership structure will make it possible to shape new successes in these markets, to create great value not only for consumers and advertisers, but also for our shareholders. Brazil, Indonesia, Bangladesh, and Thailand are fantastic countries. Combined, there are almost 700 million people in these markets. We reach a fair amount of them already, but I'm convinced there is tremendous growth to come.

We are excited about the future here. We can't wait to start working with our partners in order to develop great marketplaces that we believe will be vital and integrated parts of the societies in the digital future. Going forward, Schibsted will continue to develop our successful positions in Europe. Through the agreement today, we have significantly strengthened the portfolio of our operations that is in the investment phase. In total, this gives us confidence that our online classified divisions will continue to grow well, both in terms of users, revenues, and profitability. Right. We're now ready to take your questions, and I will hand you back to the Operator to guide us through that session. Operator, please go ahead.

Operator

Thank you. If you would like to ask a question at this point, please press the Star or Asterisk key, followed by the digit 1 on your handset. If you find that your question has already been answered, you can remove yourself from the queue by pressing Star 2. Again, please press Star 1 to place a question. We will now take our first question from Edward Hill-Wood. Please go ahead, sir. Your line is open.

Edward Hill-Wood
Managing Director and Equity Research Analyst, Morgan Stanley

Yes, good morning, everyone. I've got several questions. I mean, firstly, maybe to Bob in particular. Bob, on the last call, you said, I think that you would rather, you know, fight it out in Brazil in particular, try to fight for market leadership rather than do a deal. I'm really interested in why this deal is happening now, what the motivation is, what the timing is. Secondly, can this deal get extended into other territories? Is it possible that it becomes an entity in its own right to maybe sort of grow beyond its boundaries? Thirdly, monetization. You know, is the business. I mean, are you looking to combine the assets in a way that can be sort of create accelerated monetization?

I know there's a lot of questions, so maybe if you wanna prioritize them, please go ahead.

Bob van Dijk
CEO, Naspers

Thank you, Ad. Maybe to start with your first question. I think in Brazil, we have been competing head-to-head, and we've discussed that with our investors over the last over the last decade or decades quarters. I think we feel we made progress. The flip side is that we, in the end, believe by joining forces, we will create a more vibrant marketplace. We'll create more liquidity for our buyers. We'll create a better audience for our sellers. We believe actually the return profile of doing this together is just gonna be better for all of us. That drives very much the decision we've made on these joint ventures.

I think on extending it, I think we're covering the markets that we believe are most important, that will create a great deal of value. We'll continue to operate in many other geographies independently. To your final point, I think we have the intention of combining the liquidity in these markets, and we believe that over time, that will allow us to start monetizing these businesses.

Edward Hill-Wood
Managing Director and Equity Research Analyst, Morgan Stanley

Are you intending to closing down a brand or are you gonna just provide joint liquidity on both sides?

Bob van Dijk
CEO, Naspers

I think the exact way of us operating them, some of these questions are still being worked through.

Edward Hill-Wood
Managing Director and Equity Research Analyst, Morgan Stanley

Okay. Thank you very much.

Operator

We will now take our next question from David Ferguson from Renaissance Capital. Please go ahead.

David Ferguson
Managing Director and Equity Research Analyst, Renaissance Capital

A couple of questions, please. Firstly, the percentage ownership stakes in each of the merged entities, is it fair to sort of assume that's indicative of where your user market shares sit currently? That's the first question. Secondly, in Brazil, 2 questions. One, does this pave the way now for monetization to really begin in 2015? Two, where would you say you're positioned in the key jobs, cars, and real estates verticals, or do you have leadership there, or do we need a sort of another round of investment in those categories? Third question, can you disclose how much you both spent, I guess principally on advertising in Brazil over the last 12 months?

Maybe I'll have one follow-up question at the end if I can. Thank you.

Bob van Dijk
CEO, Naspers

Yes. Thank you. Thank you, David. On, on the percentage holding, I think directionally that is correct. We, we have done this transaction based on the relative strength of a number of core KPIs, and those are reflected in the ownership stakes that you have seen in the press release. On the second question, and maybe Rolf here can give his point of view. I think both of our business have made great headway in building also strong positions in the verticals. I do believe there's still a lot of development further to be done, but I would say we're on an encouraging path to build a strong position both in the horizontal space in Brazil as well as in the vertical space.

Rolv Erik Ryssdal
CEO, Schibsted

Yes, I agree on that. I think the traffic that we'll generate now together is will at least be a very good starting point to have a stronger move into those verticals. On third point, I think you know, I think you all know that our have been watching us for a while, that we don't disclose what we spend in marketing on in single markets.

David Ferguson
Managing Director and Equity Research Analyst, Renaissance Capital

Okay, fair enough. Maybe just if I can, quick final question for Bob. Would it be reasonable to take the logic for today's deal and expect something similar to happen in India, or is that a very different market and competitive situation?

Bob van Dijk
CEO, Naspers

I think it's a very different market and competitive situation where we're extremely comfortable that we're gonna, if we invest well and we compete well, we'll have a good outcome.

David Ferguson
Managing Director and Equity Research Analyst, Renaissance Capital

Okay, great. Thanks very much.

Operator

We will now take our next question from JP Davids from Barclays. Please go ahead.

JP Davids
Director, Barclays

Hi. Good morning. Two questions, please. The first one just on the structure of the deal. Can you provide a little bit of color as to why you've approached it sort of geography or asset by asset rather than maybe just creating a bigger joint venture or other scenarios where, you know, potentially, you know, Naspers bought out these assets entirely from Schibsted? The second question is really around use of capital going forward. I think the inference today is that there will be lower development spend for both companies. Can you talk a little bit about whether you will redirect that somewhere else or what we could think about in terms of that use of capital going forward? Thank you.

Bob van Dijk
CEO, Naspers

Yeah. On your question to the structure, of course these are different territories with different features to them. As far as the KPIs in each of those markets, they're not directly comparable. We think that the most effective way to actually structure the joint ventures are to be very focused locally, and that's why we've chosen that structure.

JP Davids
Director, Barclays

When it comes the spend for Schibsted?

Trond Berger
CFO, Schibsted

Well, when it comes to the spending, I mean, spending going forward certainly for Schibsted, goes significantly down. However, we are prepared to spend what is necessary in other markets to develop a profitable, new market, places. All in all, it's of course, significant impact on the spending, as we have in some of the emerging markets.

Bob van Dijk
CEO, Naspers

If I could add our perspective to that, I think there is an opportunity to reduce some upfront spend, agree with Trond that we are committed to funding these businesses to success. I think that's the most important takeaway for this set of joint ventures.

JP Davids
Director, Barclays

Thank you. If I could just follow up with one quick thing and just on Bob's remark there, that you're committed to funding them to success. Just in terms of a broad brush, how much do you think the funding commitment has changed because of today's deal, for these assets?

Trond Berger
CFO, Schibsted

I appreciate the question, but we don't give any guidance on that.

JP Davids
Director, Barclays

Okay. Thank you.

Operator

We will now take the next question from Richard Barker from Credit Suisse. Please go ahead.

Richard Barker
Director, Credit Suisse

Thank you very much. It comes in 2 parts, I'm afraid. Firstly, I just wondered from a regulatory position, I mean, you say that the deals are obviously subject to approval. In most cases, this is the number 1 and the number 2 in the market combining, which clearly is gonna give rise potentially to some competition issues. Can you just let us know what kind of preliminary discussions, if any, you've had with the authorities as, and really, I suppose some indication as to your confidence with which these deals will close, was the first question. Then the second question is related to the particular to the Thailand and the Thailand part of the transaction where it seems like it's more complicated transaction than maybe it is in Brazil.

It, as I understand it looks like there's a sort of an asset swap in the Philippines happening as well. I just wondered if you could maybe talk through the details of that a little bit more, maybe clarify that. Thank you.

Martin Scheepbouwer
CEO, Classifieds, Naspers

Okay. Richard, on your first question relating to the regulatory aspect, I think we are quite comfortable that when one looks at these different territories' products and the consumer services that consumers can be accessed through multiple platforms. Therefore the regulatory environment is comes down to a short form EU filing. We can't be preemptive. We're in that process, as we said. This deal is subject to that. We do believe in a positive outcome. That's a process that we need to walk through still.

On your question relating to the Philippines, the Philippines market, as we said, the shareholding, so, in the Philippines was, that Schibsted had, was swapped out into a position in Thailand. I think that it fortifies the Thailand joint venture because of the strong presence that Telenor has in that market. There, so that is basically those two markets should be seen together.

Richard Barker
Director, Credit Suisse

Just to clarify on that then, Naspers will own 100% now of a, an enlarged Philippine platform. Is that right?

Martin Scheepbouwer
CEO, Classifieds, Naspers

That's correct.

Richard Barker
Director, Credit Suisse

Thank you.

Operator

We will now take our next question from Chris Grundberg from UBS. Please go ahead.

Chris Grundberg
Equity Research Analyst, UBS

Oh, thanks very much. I just wanted to ask a couple of just clarifications. Just on the first one, can you just make sure I've understood this right? There is no cash consideration alongside the merging of these entities. This is purely an asset merger. That'll be the first question. The second one, you mentioned that you're not entirely clear, I suppose, on the go forward brands in each of these markets. Is there any reason to think that it wouldn't be the larger as indicated by the percentage holdings that you've put down, clearly that doesn't apply to Brazil, where it's 50/50, but any others, why would you not go with the larger one as indicated by the percentages? Thanks.

Terje Seljeseth
CEO, Schibsted Classified Media

Well, when it comes to the cash, this deal is cash neutral. That's the way we have set up the structure.

Trond Berger
CFO, Schibsted

Yeah. That's, it's all, it's all based on relative metrics. I think when it comes to the branding, we've said that in Brazil and Indonesia, we'll use the OLX brand. In Thailand, there's going to be a merge with Kaidee. That will be led and managed by the existing OLX Thailand management team and run on that platform. Then we'll have to come back to the final decision on the brand there.

Richard Barker
Director, Credit Suisse

Okay, that's helpful. Thank you.

Operator

We will now take our next question from Richard Tessendorf from Avior Capital Markets. Please go ahead.

Richard Tessendorf
Analyst, Avior Capital Markets

Good morning, guys. You've answered most of my questions. Just a small one on the Naspers side. Can you give us some color on whether there are still minorities sitting in some of those territories? I guess the main one would be Indonesia with the old Berniaga minorities.

Trond Berger
CFO, Schibsted

Yes. There will still be minorities on our side of that investment.

Richard Tessendorf
Analyst, Avior Capital Markets

Okay. Thank you.

Operator

We will now take our next question from Alex Balakhnin from Goldman Sachs. Please go ahead.

Alexander Balakhnin
European classifieds analyst, Goldman Sachs

Yes. Yes, good morning. I have two questions. First is, can you elaborate on the corporate governance procedures you put in place in your JVs, in particular, like how the major decisions will be made, whether there are any agreements on who nominates whom, like CEO, CFO, and also maybe some exit options, if you have anything discussed like that. My second question is, given mobile is particularly important in all those countries, can you probably share which mobile platform, not OLX or Shpock that will lie in the core of the merged entities in those markets?

Maybe a quick third question on the other certain markets which you mentioned in the press release, has it been agreed which country goes to which company or while it is still under discussion? Thank you.

Trond Berger
CFO, Schibsted

Alex, I'll take your first question on the governance. It's there's proportional representation in each of those joint ventures. Secondly, as far as exit rights and minority protection rights, change of control, et cetera, those are all customary that you would expect to see in a joint venture of this nature.

Bob van Dijk
CEO, Naspers

If I can, go into the platform and the mobile approach, I think what we are gonna be very deliberate about is to take those combination of platforms and solutions that are gonna be optimal to drive the best outcomes for the customer. We'll make choices in each of the JVs based on the best traction and the best opportunities that those platforms offer.

Alexander Balakhnin
European classifieds analyst, Goldman Sachs

On the markets, other than those mentioned in the press release, have you decided the distribution of those beyond Philippines?

Trond Berger
CFO, Schibsted

We are mainly operating in the rest of the world independently, and these are the key countries that we are going to JV in.

Bob van Dijk
CEO, Naspers

Yeah.

Alexander Balakhnin
European classifieds analyst, Goldman Sachs

Thanks so much.

Operator

We will now take our next question from Catherine O'Neill from Citi. Please go ahead.

Catherine O'Neill
Managing Director and Equity Research Analyst, Citi

Hey, a couple of questions. Firstly, on sort of pace of heading towards profitability and breakeven. I know traditionally you talk about 3-5 years for these sites, and I think with Brazil, you have said it will probably be longer given the competition. What's your view on that in terms of when we could expect some of these main markets to breakeven? Also, I'm not sure if I completely understood. In the release, it talks about other markets in LATAM and Asia, where you're essentially sort of swapping assets and things like that. Outside of those 4 main markets, could you just sort of specifically lay out which markets you're switching around and, you know, in terms of the ownership? Thanks.

Trond Berger
CFO, Schibsted

Yeah. I think you can say that the business plan for the next 12 months has been agreed by the parties. And then we'll discuss the post-merger integration plans shortly. I think it's hard to comment, and we're not going to guide on when it's going to be exact breakeven. I think by joining forces, obviously we create much better marketplaces with better liquidity for the consumers, but it'll also be good from a business point of view. We'll kind of shorten that time to breakeven. And I think on your second question, I think it's fair to say that this deal is mainly about those 4 JVs that we have talked about in Brazil, Indonesia, Thailand and Bangladesh.

In addition to that, there are a few other markets or Shpock that we'll acquire and concentrate on a few other markets, most notably in Mexico and Vietnam.

Bob van Dijk
CEO, Naspers

Yeah. On our side, we'll focus on Colombia on one side and obviously, the Philippines as was answered previously.

Catherine O'Neill
Managing Director and Equity Research Analyst, Citi

Okay. In those markets, you've both agreed to sort of, for the other one to essentially exit and not compete?

Bob van Dijk
CEO, Naspers

What we've effectively done there is we basically acquired the assets from the counterparty.

Catherine O'Neill
Managing Director and Equity Research Analyst, Citi

Okay. Thanks.

Operator

We will now take our next question from Marcus Iwar from Goldman Sachs. Please go ahead.

Marcus Iwar
Analyst, Goldman Sachs

Thank you. I suppose most questions have been asked here, I just thought it would be interesting to hear kind of the experience with Avito, which happened about a year ago or a year and a half ago. Is that a precedent you think we could look at in terms of how to predict the outcome as an aggregate to some of these joint ventures that you now are creating? That's the first question I have, and the second one would be, have you seen or do you experience some competition from other players globally that triggers you to do this?

Is there any changes in the competitive landscape in general that you would like to just address? Thank you.

Bob van Dijk
CEO, Naspers

Thank you. Thank you, Marcus. The Avito experience, I think has been a positive one. I would say the credit goes mainly to the Avito leadership team have just executed extremely well in the Russian market. We're very proud to be shareholders in that business. I think what we have with Schibsted and our other partners are, I'd say, a similar understanding of the market, very capable operators and we'll work hard to make it a success. I think many of these businesses are much earlier than the Russian market is, work to be done. I think on the competition question, I think as we say in the press announcement, we have great respect for Schibsted as an operator.

I think we are great operators. There's many other competitors in all our markets. I think, whatever territory you look at, there is, several other players who are building customer propositions and are doing a great job. I think we have a lot of work ahead of us.

Rolv Erik Ryssdal
CEO, Schibsted

Yeah, I'd like to add that, there is, of course, a lot of competition in all markets, and you see new players coming also from new angles and new platforms. I think this deal will allow us to have the better position to tackle also the new competitors, because we'll get bigger and more vibrant marketplaces. That'll be good for us. There's going to be a lot of competition as well.

Marcus Iwar
Analyst, Goldman Sachs

Thank you. Just going forward, how should we expect your reporting kind of numbers from these JVs? Will you know, help us understand the kind of traffic growth and certain KPIs for this? Because obviously there's some pretty significant operations and in countries that are very large, and just to help us a bit easier for us to gauge development. Thank you.

Terje Seljeseth
CEO, Schibsted Classified Media

Well, I mean, when it comes to, there are strict IFRS rules. When it comes to the pure, accounting reporting, this will be reported as JVs, separate line. We will give and provide additional information in the analyst, presentation material, of course, what we think is relevant when it comes to the development, and also top line KPIs if relevant at some point.

Marcus Iwar
Analyst, Goldman Sachs

Thank you.

Operator

I take our next question from David Reynolds from Jefferies. Please go ahead.

David Reynolds
European Media and Internet Equity Research, Jefferies

Morning. Yeah, thanks. taking the question, just a simple one. Could you just confirm that, following the combinations in those three key markets of Brazil, Indonesia, and Thailand, you'll be the number one in competitive terms on GMV or whichever metric you prefer to use?

Bob van Dijk
CEO, Naspers

Maybe, maybe if I can answer that. I think we GMV is not typically a metric that's relevant for our classified businesses. I think the best way to summarize is these markets are an early stage, but I think with the combined liquidity, we'll have a good customer offering in the market.

David Reynolds
European Media and Internet Equity Research, Jefferies

A number one offering or not?

Bob van Dijk
CEO, Naspers

I think we'll have the better liquidity for our customers in these markets.

David Reynolds
European Media and Internet Equity Research, Jefferies

Thanks.

Bob van Dijk
CEO, Naspers

Generally. Yeah. I mean, there are obviously different formats in each of these markets where you have a transactional marketplace or e-tail models that also serve customers, right? It's not the only way for people to trade goods, but within the specific business model that we are approaching, I think it will be very solid liquidity.

David Reynolds
European Media and Internet Equity Research, Jefferies

Thank you.

Operator

Our next question is from Christer Roth from DNB. Christer Roth , please go ahead.

Christer Roth
Equity Research Analyst, DNB

Thank you. Just very quickly in terms of going back to the exit clauses regulating the JVs, can you confirm that they are symmetrical and that they have the same terms for all participants, please? Thanks.

Bob van Dijk
CEO, Naspers

Yeah, we can confirm that.

Christer Roth
Equity Research Analyst, DNB

Thank you.

Operator

Our next question is from Atle Bekken from Kepler Cheuvreux. Please go ahead.

Atle Bekken
Senior Equity Sales, Kepler Cheuvreux

Good morning. Well done. Yeah, two questions. One on the monetization in Brazil. When you, Naspers merged with Avito, you managed to monetize almost immediately on the business. You said earlier that Brazil was earlier in the phase or process than Avito. Personally, I've been expecting a monetization in about 4-5 years before this deal. Can you indicate a bit more when you hope to monetize on Brazil?

Bob van Dijk
CEO, Naspers

Yeah. I think we will not give any specific guidance on when we can monetize. I think what is fair to say is that it will enable us to be more comfortable with monetizing at an earlier point in time than we would otherwise be. That is obviously quite positive.

Atle Bekken
Senior Equity Sales, Kepler Cheuvreux

The second question, we've seen a very similar trajectory development from Blocket in leboncoin and Avito. Can we hope for the same trajectory, do you think, in Brazil?

Rolv Erik Ryssdal
CEO, Schibsted

I think hope is not our strategy. I think we're just gonna execute well and pursue a great business.

Atle Bekken
Senior Equity Sales, Kepler Cheuvreux

Okay. Thank you.

Operator

Now take our next question from Bruno Montoro from Facebook. Please go ahead.

Bruno Montoro
Client Partner of Enterprise Key Accounts, Facebook

Hi. Hello, good morning. My question is, of course, like, one of the main reasons of this joint venture is to cut costs. In Brazilian market, you have been investing a lot on, let's say all medium but, mainly on television. My question is, what can we expect in terms of advertising strategies changes, coming from this joint venture? Will this give whatever brand stays in the country to have more long term, to have more room to long-term strategies? Thank you.

Rolv Erik Ryssdal
CEO, Schibsted

Well, you know, I think, we've said that we're not going to comment specifically on spending, but I think, this will enable us to think long term. I think, all parties here, agree on that there's going to be competition by several players in Brazil, so we need to continue to invest. I think we have ample resources to do that now and pursue a long-term strategy, which is very good.

Bruno Montoro
Client Partner of Enterprise Key Accounts, Facebook

Okay, thanks.

Operator

Now take our next question from Per-Pål Nødland from Arctic Securities.

Per-Pål Nødland
Analyst, Arctic Securities

Hi, good morning, and congratulations for reaching a value-creating deal. I have a question for you, Rolv Erik. Schibsted and Telenor will now each have about 25% of the Brazilian asset, but at the same time, there appears to be no strategic rationale for Telenor to be involved in a South American operation. Is there any agreement in place today dictating the terms where Schibsted acquires Telenor's stake in absentia? Thank you.

Terje Seljeseth
CEO, Schibsted Classified Media

Well, I mean, we have, first of all, a good relationship with Telenor, and the experience now from the JV with Telenor operating more than a year has been very positive. We have a long-term view and cooperation with Telenor. I would say that there are also there some more standard type of exit clauses, et cetera, at some point. We have a long-term view and good relationship with Telenor.

Rolv Erik Ryssdal
CEO, Schibsted

I think with their knowledge of both, consumer behavior in emerging markets and, with the technology, they're adding value all over the portfolio. I think they're also a valuable player to have on board in Brazil.

Per-Pål Nødland
Analyst, Arctic Securities

Thank you.

Operator

Now take our next question from Ziad Sobh from JP Morgan. Please go ahead.

Ziad Sobh
Analyst, JPMorgan

Hi, everyone, congratulations on the deal. I've just got one question for Bob, please. How are you gonna view your 20 new markets you entered in classified, the frontier markets? Has your strategy towards those markets changed on the back of this deal in terms of capital allocation, investment, et cetera? Will you now maybe be looking to wrap up those markets faster than what you were before? Thank you.

Bob van Dijk
CEO, Naspers

Appreciate the question. I think, as we mentioned in the past, we have a well-funded business plan for the core markets that we're pursuing. We'll pursue those in a similar way as we've done before. We're committed to building out a position in those markets. If we compete well, I think we have good opportunities there. We're committed to those.

Ziad Sobh
Analyst, JPMorgan

Okay. Thanks very much. Thank you.

Operator

Question from Philip Short from Old Mutual Equities.

Philip Short
Senior Investment Professional, Old Mutual Equities

Morning, everyone. Quick question for Bob. Looking at the share prices and including Schibsted's, which is up over 20%, it looks like it could have been actually more positive if Naspers just bought Schibsted outright. Did you look at that, Bob? If so, why didn't you do that?

Bob van Dijk
CEO, Naspers

I think I'm not gonna comment on what the market choose. The market does what the market does. I think we're very pleased to be working together with Schibsted. The company I've known for a long time, I think we found a great way to work together and combine forces. Other ways may be possible, ifs and whens, I would say not particularly helpful. I think I'm excited about this cooperation. I think it will, for the future, bring a huge amount of value for our shareholders and our customers, that's what we're focusing on.

Philip Short
Senior Investment Professional, Old Mutual Equities

I appreciate that, I'm just thinking if you bought them, you would have still had them as a partner. You would have probably you wouldn't have to share Brazil or the other markets that you're JV-ing with. You would have got.

Bob van Dijk
CEO, Naspers

Maybe

Philip Short
Senior Investment Professional, Old Mutual Equities

you would have got some of the.

Bob van Dijk
CEO, Naspers

I think there's quite a few companies, media companies, for very good reasons, have control structures in place. We're one of them. I believe Schibsted is one as well.

Philip Short
Senior Investment Professional, Old Mutual Equities

Okay.

Operator

We'll now take our next question from Alexander Balakhnin from Goldman Sachs. Please go ahead.

Alexander Balakhnin
European classifieds analyst, Goldman Sachs

Yes. Hi again. A very quick follow-up from me. When do you expect the deal will be closed from all the regulatory standpoints and organization as well?

Bob van Dijk
CEO, Naspers

Actually, that is subject to the process that we go through with the EU Competition Commissioner. We can't, and we don't want to predict when that can happen. That's a process that runs. Typically, one could look at somewhere around 60 to 90 days.

Alexander Balakhnin
European classifieds analyst, Goldman Sachs

Okay. It's basically the question of predict a couple of months max you would expect?

Trond Berger
CFO, Schibsted

Yeah, a couple of months.

Alexander Balakhnin
European classifieds analyst, Goldman Sachs

Thanks so much. Thanks.

Operator

We'll now take our next question from Marcus Iwar from Goldman Sachs. Please go ahead.

Marcus Iwar
Analyst, Goldman Sachs

Thank you. Just a few follow-up regarding IP, and how that is kind of different, intellectual properties that you sit on and how you. Are you sharing this kind of, I guess not completely. Can you have a little bit of a discussion around this and how you showed up that IP is protected, et cetera. Secondly, on more specifically for Schibsted on data analytics that you are now kind of investing in. Is that something that then you will kind of utilize in these JVs, et cetera, as well? How would you, in that case, be able to keep that benefit internally, not only for the JV, but also for Schibsted as a parent? Thank you.

Trond Berger
CFO, Schibsted

Well, if I can start by answering the second question. I think data analytics is an important field for us. We're already today working in joint ventures. I think if you look at, you know, huge companies such as the one in Brazil will be a sizable company, I think will have mutual benefits of cooperating with that company. I think, you know, there's going to be a bigger base where we are owners and part owners, and I think that's going to be positive for the data analytics work, and we'll share collaboration across.

Martin Scheepbouwer
CEO, Classifieds, Naspers

Yeah. With respect to the technologies, there will be some choices have been made, the final choices on platform and technology per JV will be made. Our agreements obviously call for the adequate protections of those platforms and the intellectual property that comes with it.

Marcus Iwar
Analyst, Goldman Sachs

Thank you.

Operator

As a reminder to ask a question, please press star one on your telephone handset. Next question from David Ferguson from Renaissance Capital. Please go ahead.

David Ferguson
Managing Director and Equity Research Analyst, Renaissance Capital

Hi, everyone. I just wanted another follow-up question, please. It's on Indonesia. Can you just talk more generally about that market? I guess I'm looking to understand sort of how well understood the online classified model is there, and therefore, how sort of near that market is to monetization.

Trond Berger
CFO, Schibsted

Martin, if you are online, would you mind commenting to that? You're most close to that market.

Martin Scheepbouwer
CEO, Classifieds, Naspers

Absolutely. We see Indonesia as an early market for online classifieds. We believe that by combining the strength of OLX and Beliaga there, we'll be able to provide a much better offering for consumers. Then we'll have to build out a joint position to reach more people in Indonesia and continue to outgrow further competitors.

David Ferguson
Managing Director and Equity Research Analyst, Renaissance Capital

Okay. Thanks, Martin.

Operator

As a final reminder, to ask a question, please press star one. There appear to be no further questions. I would now like to hand back to the two CEOs for some closing remarks. Mr. van Dijk, please go ahead.

Bob van Dijk
CEO, Naspers

Thank you everyone, for taking the time to dial in today. We're quite excited about working together with our new partners, I hope you are as well. We realize the agreement is still subject to EU competition approval, we look very much forward to working with our new partners. We believe can create value for our shareholders, we can accelerate our mission of helping people to improve their lives by facilitating win-win exchanges. With our interim results that are due on the 25th of November, we hope again to speak to many of you and thank you for your time.

Operator

Mr. Ryssdal, would you like to comment?

Rolv Erik Ryssdal
CEO, Schibsted

Yes. I also thank you all for taking part in this call. As you understand, very excited about this deal, which gives a lot of interesting opportunities and prospects going forward. At the end, I would like to take the opportunity just to remind you about Schibsted Investor Seminar in Barcelona on Tuesday, eighteenth of November, where we'll talk about today's announcement and also other parts of Schibsted's online classifieds portfolio. Thank you.

Operator

Ladies and gentlemen, that concludes today's conference call. Thank you very much.

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