Due dilligence starting in Allegro

Allegro, the biggest regional e-commerce platform, is finally up for sale, with US online retailer eBay and private equity firm CVC Capital Partners among a total of six bidders.  Due diligence of the company is expected to start on Thursday. Naspers, Allegro's owner, wants almost PLN 13 bilion for the company. Except eBay, all of the other bidders are private equity funds: General Atlantic, Apax, Permira in collaboration with Civen, Advent International and Mid Europa Partners. "Allegro is a ready-made entry not only to Poland, but also into the region," one market source told Reuters. Founded in 1999, Allegro is the largest e-commerce investment for Naspers - Africa's largest company by market value - since its acquisition in 2008. It has 50 million signed up users. According to PMR, the e-commerce market in Poland will grow at a rate of 15 percent yearly, reaching nearly PLN 65 billion by the end of 2020.