UK-based auctioneer QXL.com plc Thursday added Norway’s largest auction site to its holdings as it continues to snowball through Europe.
QXL (QXLC) bought DinSide Auksjon from online publisher DinSide AS for £13.2 million ($21.4 million) in an all-stock deal. The site will be added to a new QXL.com version for Scandinavia.
“This acquisition will enable QXL.com to quickly gain a strong position in Scandinavia, a region with the highest Internet penetration in the world,” said Jim Rose, QXL.com’s chief executive officer.
DinSide Auksjon caters to the consumer-to-consumer and business-to-consumer market, and boasts more than 40,000 members. Tore Andre Godager, managing director of DinSide Auksjon, will join QXL.com as managing director of its operations.
Portal deals have bolstered the auctioneer’s goals in Europe. European online auction player QXL.com PLC last week signed a deal with Excite for co-branded auctions.
Last month, QXL expanded its relationship with AOL Europe, linking QXL.de to AOL Germany. AOL in turn will deliver 75 million page impressions over the duration of the contract. QXL previously inked similar deals with AOL (AOL) for its UK and France properties.
QXL last month added a Netherlands site to its offerings in the UK, France, Germany and Italy.