Online classifieds investor Frontier — which specialises in developing countries — has bought three property portals in Africa and will merge them into its existing businesses.

The Ghana, Nigeria and Angola websites were bought from an online classifieds group in Africa called Jumia.

Under the deal, Frontier (ASX:FDV) will trade its African Afribaba portal plus $US500,000 for the three sites — which will be merged into existing Frontier sites to create the leading portals in each country.

“This transaction was a rare opportunity in the online classifieds space,” Frontier founder Shaun Di Gregorio told investors.

“The ultimate result for Frontier shareholders is that we have exited Afribaba and created three new market leaders in property verticals across three key African markets. It demonstrates the strength of our entrepreneur-led online classifieds model.”

Room in compound described as a 'serene environment with access to electricity and water supply'. Picture: Jumia Ghana.
This compound in Santa Maria, Ghana, can be rented via Fronter’s new Ghana property portal for 120 Ghana Cedi ($35) a month. The abode is described as a “serene environment with access to electricity and water supply”.

Integration of the three new sites takes Fronter’s portfolio of car and property classifieds to 12, in locations ranging from Pakistan to Myanmar, Bolivia and the Philippines.

The company sold off their stake in an “underperforming” Congo property portal in September.

Frontier shares were trading at 65c on Friday, down from highs of 77c after the announcement of record quarterly revenue at the end of June.

Under the agreement, the Jumia websites will begin by redirecting traffic to Frontier’s sites before the sites are fully integrated over the next six months.

Frontier reported no revenue in the September quarter but spent about $3.1 million, leaving $16.2 million in the bank.

Frontier expects to spend $4.7 million this quarter.

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