Case Study
Analytics Backbone for Dual M&A
Data backbone that supported two multi-market acquisitions.
As Head of Analytics for eBay Classifieds Emerging Markets, our founder built the analytics backbone that powered two major M&A transactions: eBay spinning off its Classifieds Group to merge with Schibsted's Adevinta (2020), and Adevinta later selling the Mexico/Latin America operations to Quinto Andar. He combined external market data (Semrush, SimilarWeb, INEGI, Google Trends) with internal metrics to produce the due diligence materials and pitch deck analytics that supported buyer negotiations.
Key Results
The Transformation
The Challenge
Two sequential M&A transactions required comprehensive analytics that didn't exist in any single system:
- Buyers needed quantified due diligence on market size, competitive positioning, and portfolio performance across multiple countries — data that lived in a dozen disconnected sources
- External market intelligence (traffic share, SEO positioning, demographic trends) had to be combined with internal performance data (GA, internal reporting) to tell a coherent story
- Each transaction had different buyers with different priorities — Adevinta cared about classifieds synergies across markets, Quinto Andar focused on Latin America real estate TAM
- The analytics had to be defensible under buyer scrutiny — this wasn't a management dashboard, it was due diligence material for multi-million dollar decisions
Our Approach
**External Market Intelligence:**
- Compiled competitive landscape data from Semrush (organic search positioning), SimilarWeb (traffic benchmarking), and Google Trends (demand trajectory) across all emerging markets
- Integrated INEGI census data and local market research to quantify total addressable market for real estate and automotive classifieds in each geography
**Internal Performance Analytics:**
- Unified Google Analytics web performance with internal business metrics — revenue, listing volumes, paid subscriber counts, and engagement patterns
- Built standardized market scorecards that made portfolio performance comparable across Mexico, South Africa, Poland, Ireland, and Argentina
**Due Diligence & Deal Support:**
- Produced pitch deck analytics and due diligence materials tailored to each buyer's thesis — Adevinta's classifieds synergy story and Quinto Andar's LatAm real estate expansion
- Delivered data packages that withstood buyer scrutiny during negotiation, supporting successful close of both transactions
The Outcome
**Transaction Support:**
- Analytics backbone powered the successful sale of eBay Classifieds Group to Adevinta — one of the largest classifieds M&A transactions globally
- Same infrastructure supported the subsequent sale of Adevinta's emerging markets operations to Quinto Andar
**Strategic Value:**
- Market scorecards created for due diligence became the permanent competitive intelligence framework for the business
- Demonstrated that analytics leadership during M&A is a distinct discipline — combining external market data with internal metrics to build a defensible investment narrative
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