- Led Wayline
Malaysia's Car Selling Platform Carsome Expands Singapore Presence with CarTimes Acquisition
After taking its place as Malaysia’s preferred all-around used car platform and being honoured with the title as the country’s first tech unicorn, Carsome is now looking to reinforce its presence in Singapore with the acquisition of CarTimes.
While it has been operating in the city-state for a while now, its latest move – acquiring CarTimes Automobile Pte Ltd (CarTimes) – cements its position as a market leader.
CarTimes, established more than 20 years ago, had grown into a full suite of auto solutions that cover every facet of the industry – from new and used car retail; to rental and financing; insurance; and even maintenance. All these offerings will now be part of the Carsome platform as part of its 51% stake purchase into CarTimes.
Inside sources revealed to Business Times that the purchase is worth US$60 million comprising half in cash and half in shares.
While it may seem like an encroaching of the competition, for Eric Cheng, Co-Founder and Group CEO, Carsome, and Eddie Loo, Founder and Managing Director, CarTimes, the move will leverage on the synergies that both brands offer to each other.
According to Loo, the move will help CarTimes accelerate its digital efforts and ensure it can provide a better user experience to all its customers, from those who have been supportive over the past 20 years and new ones who recently signed on.
“We are extremely excited to be able to find a partner who is fully aligned with our core values and is bringing innovation, technology, and regional experience to our team. Having built an automotive ecosystem of services for our customers here in Singapore, we believe that we have managed to convey our vision of providing a peace-of-mind buying experience to our customers,” he added.
For Carsome, this new acquisition is important as it both strengthens its commitment to expand the used car ecosystem and the regional market leadership it now commands.
“We are thrilled to announce the partnership with CarTimes, the team of which has over twenty years of experience in the auto industry. This partnership will enable us to deepen our footprint in the Singapore auto market, and augment our ability in bringing trust, choice and transparency to customers together,” said Eric Cheng, Co-Founder and Group CEO, Carsome.
Notably, these moves that Carsome is currently pursuing, which includes its recent purchase of iCar Asia and Indonesia-based Universal Collection, point towards the fact that the used cars marketplace is still trendy. More importantly, it shows that there is potential for higher market valuation, especially in countries that are seeing higher demands for used cars and automotive services.
Carsome making a 51% stake purchase into CarTimes, will help Carsome expand the used cars ecosystem further strengthen its regional market leadership
For CarTimes, this reinforces the partnership it had with Carsome and will accelerate its digital efforts
Reinforces the fact that the used cars market is still trendy and has the potential to raise higher market valuation