 Bloomberg -- EBay Inc. agreed to sell its online classifieds business to Adevinta ASA for 9.2 billion, ending one of the largest auctions of the year. The Norwegian digital marketplace owner, now the largest business in that sector globally, is already looking ahead to its next deal.The tie-up means EBay will get 2.5 billion of cash and 540 million shares in the Norwegian firm, the companies said in a statement on Tuesday. Shares in Adevinta rose as much as 39.Adevinta beat out Naspers Ltd.s Prosus NV and a private equity consortium that included Blackstone Group Inc., Permira and Hellman Friedman, whod also been pursuing the unit, people familiar with the matter had said. The bid from Oslo-based Adevinta, which operates a number of online marketplaces across Europe and Latin America, got a surprise boost because EBay wanted to keep a significant stake in the business, people said.Read more: EBay Shows Billionaire Singer It Can Run an Auction: Alex WebbWhile Adevinta Chief Executive Officer Rolv Erik Ryssdal is focused on closing the deal, he said hes got his eye on the next acquisition. The company used new debt and its existing cash to fund the deal, taking out a 3 billion bridge loan to refinance its existing borrowings and cover transaction and financing fees, and said it expects to de-lever quickly as earnings expand.There are other players in the industry that also would be very welcome in this family, he said in a phone interview on Tuesday. Thats more realistic in the medium term. But certainly, there are opportunities to extend the family even further.The deal, Norways biggest in more than a decade, will significantly boost the size of Adevinta, which was spun off from Scandinavian media conglomerate Schibsted ASA last year. Ryssdal, whos been charged with expanding the company, said in an interview last week that the industry has seen a surge in demand for online shopping buoyed by the Covid-19 lockdowns.EBay has been under pressure from activist investors Starboard Value and Elliott Management Corp. to sell assets and focus on its main online marketplace EBay.com. In 2019, the company agreed to appoint two new directors from Starboard and Elliott, which stepped up pressure to divest non-core assets. The same year Devin Wenig stepped down as CEO after balking at the sales.EBay reported strong results in its more recent quarter thanks to a boost from Covid-spooked consumers shopping online, but the classified business suffered because the pandemic forced the shuttering of thousands of car dealerships.San Jose-based EBay will become Adevintas biggest shareholder and be entitled to two seats on its board.Im very happy to have EBay as a shareholder, said Ryssdal. If we can collaborate more with them and extend the collaboration, thats something that I would very happily explore. Adevintas expertise in the real estate sector could be applied to some of EBays assets, he said.The companys classifieds business includes separate online marketplaces such as Kijiji, which is used in Canada and Italy, and Gumtree, which is popular in the U.K., Australia and South Africa. It also owns Bilbasen, a Danish online vehicle marketplace, and British car search website Motors.co.uk.Theyll be added to Adevintas portfolio, which includes shopping app Shpock, vacation reservation site Locasun and job hunting platform InfoJobs.EBay said in February it was in active talks with multiple parties about a potential deal for its classifieds business. The San Jose, California company in November sold StubHub, an online marketplace for concert and sporting event tickets, to Switzerland-based rival Viagogo for 4 billion.Updates with CEO comments from fourth paragraphFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.2020 Bloomberg L.P. 