Carro eyes M&A, Australia foray ahead of potential dual ipo

SINGAPORE: Carro, Southeast Asia's largest used-car online marketplace, is weighing a dual listing and plans to bulk up for it by expanding into Australia and pursuing two to three acquisitions as early as the next quarter, its CEO said.

The company was eyeing a U.S. IPO at more than US$3 billion (RM12.6bil) valuation, Reuters reported in August, which would mark the largest Southeast Asian listing in the U.S. since SEA's $989.3 million (RM4.16bil) debut in 2017, according to LSEG.

It would also be the first major automotive tech and commerce startup from Singapore to go public in the U.S.

"We have not decided where we want to list, be it the U.S., Hong Kong, or Singapore. Dual listing is definitely on the cards," said co-founder and CEO Aaron Tan.

Speaking to Reuters in an interview on the sidelines of a business and leadership conference in Singapore, Tan said Carro has not yet appointed any financial advisers for the potential IPO, but is in talks with banks including HSBC and UBS and will decide on the hiring after finalising the listing venues.

He said the timing of the IPO would depend, among other things, on the company meeting its near-term financial targets.

"I will only list the business once I have a little bit more visibility, for instance, if my plan is to do US$100 million (RM420.45mil) and I see US$120 - US$150 million (RM504.5mil - RM630.7mil) EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation) in the next year," Tan said.

Tan and the company have not previously discussed or disclosed their expansion and listing plans.

Backed by investors including Temasek and SoftBank Group, Carro operates a digital platform that enables consumers and dealers to buy and sell vehicles, while also offering insurance, financing and after-sales services.

Besides Singapore, it has a presence in markets across the Asia-Pacific region including Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Japan, Taiwan and Hong Kong, its website shows.

Carro is looking to foray into Australia where it plans to offer its entire suite of services.

The company also plans to acquire two to three companies in the next quarter, Tan said, without providing any details.

Carro entered Hong Kong through the acquisition of a domestic used-car platform, Beyond Cars, last year, which it later rebranded as Carro, its website showed.

Carro is also betting big on artificial intelligence (AI), Tan said, adding that AI is being used in functions from sales and car inspections to back-end roles such as legal, financing and marketing.

"We have already reduced maybe 20%-30% of our overall tech costs (using AI)," he said.