Apax raises £853m from Auto Trader stake sale

autotraderThe European private equity group Apax will nearly quintuple the value of its investment in Auto Trader from selling almost all of its remaining stake in the used-car classifieds site.

The sale of the 23.3 per cent stake, raising £853m in a placing completed on Wednesday, will boost Apax’s realised return on Auto Trader to £1.7bn.

Apax’s return amounts to 4.8 times the money it has invested in the company since it bought an initial stake from the owner of the Guardian newspaper in 2007, according to people familiar with the matter.

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