Grays Online Sold Owner Takes A Haircut
Grays Online a favourite dumping site for retailers and distributors offloading old and poor performing stock has been sold with Eclipx believed to have taken a major haircut after acquiring the business back in 2017 for $179.
Eclipx offloaded the Grays Online auctions business and another small entity called AreYouSelling for $60 million to Quadrant Private Equity.
The move comes only days after Wesfarmers acquired Catch of the Day for $230 a site that is also used by consumer electronics and appliance retailers to dispose of slow selling stock.
The decision to sell Greys Online was made by new Eclipx chief executive Julian Russell took the helm at the group and pledged to refocus the company on its core businesses of fleet management and novated leases.
Big write-downs have previously been booked on their Greys Online operation by Eclipx in the lead-up to the sale.
Mr Russell said that the sale of Grays Online and AreYouSelling, which is a used car online buying and selling service, was an important step in the rebuild of Eclipx.
Morgan Stanley analyst Bradley Ablett said in a note late on Friday that the sale of Grays Online was a ”good outcome” from a timing, value and a de-leveraging perspective.