The merger between DoneDeal.ie and Distilled Media, which owns sites like property portal Daft.ie and Advertis.ie, will create a veritable classified advertising powerhouse in Ireland with revenues in the region of €20m a year.

DoneDeal.ie, which is owned by the Norwegian company Schibsted, has agreed to merge its Irish operations with those of Distilled Media, which is owned by entrepreneurs Eamon and Brian Fallon. The new company will be jointly owned, 50:50 by Schibsted and Distilled Media and Eamon Fallon will be the CEO of the new company.

Although now part of the one group, DoneDeal.ie, Adverts.ie and Daft.ie will be run by existing management and staff while they will all share back-office functions as well as advertising and marketing operations.

With the online classifieds market in Ireland estimated to be worth in the region of €30m a year, the newly enlarged company will be the biggest player in the market. In 2013 DoneDeal.ie had a turnover of €7.9m and made a profit of €1.3m. For its part Distilled Media reported a turnover of €8.3m and a profit of €1.6m in the same year. Combined, this would suggest annualised turnover in excess of €18-€20m, if not more, given the buoyant nature of the online advertising market at the moment. What is known is that the combined entity had revenues in the first six months of 2015 of around €9.4 million.

"We are delighted to combine with Distilled Media and the Fallon brothers in Ireland. Through this new setup we will expand our reach in this exciting market to real estate, and we aim to further improve the position in the generalist and cars markets. When the leading online classifieds sites in Ireland are joining forces, we believe we will be able to create even better services for buyers and sellers," says CEO of Schibsted Media Group Rolv Erik Ryssdal.

According to Eamon Fallon, "joining forces with Schibsted in this venture creates an online advertising business of scale in Ireland with the capability of competing head to head with the international internet majors. Our combined reach is currently 650,000 people per day. We look forward to working together with Schibsted, benefitting from their exceptional international experience and insights, to develop and grow this business in Ireland," Eamon Fallon says.

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