April 24, 2026 03:34 am (IST)
Follow us:
US-based Cox Automotive buys stake in Mahindra First Choice Wheels
Mumbai, Nov 25 (IBNS): US-based digital marketing company Cox Automotive has acquired a significant strategic stake in Mahindra First Choice Wheels, the used-car retailing unit of Mahindra & Mahindra.
The transaction, through a secondary sale, saw one of Mahindra First Choice's early investors, HDFC, selling its entire stake. Phi Advisors, an initial private equity investor in the company, sold a part of its stake..
Cox Automotive with $17 billion annual revenue owns AutoTrader, the largest digital automotive marketplace in the US, and vehicle research platform Kelley Blue Book. Mahindra First Choice owns IndianBlueBook.com, an online vehicle valuation company.
"There is an enormous global synergy building in this space. It is not a money-raising exercise. It is about bringing a strategic input," said Mahindra Chairman Anand Mahindra.
"It is not about an IndianBlueBook versus Kelly Blue Book at some point of time. This is the might of the Kelly Blue Book being thrown behind the IndianBlueBook," he added.
Mahindra First Choice had raised Rs 94 crore from San Francisco-based hedge fund Valiant Capital in March. The deal gave Valiant a 13.36% stake, valuing the company at about Rs 700 crore at the time.
Mahindra First Choice is one of the few companies in this space in India to be profitable.
It reported a profit of Rs 1.92 crore on revenue of Rs 44 crore in fiscal 2015. According to Chief Executive Nagendra Palle, revenue is expected to hit Rs. 70 crore this year.
Rajeev Dubey, CEO of the Aftermarket Sector at Mahindra, who has negotiated with Cox for about a year now on the deal, said the company doesn't want to dilute its stake in the unit.
"We've enough cash and even though we are growing, we haven't used the cash invested by Valiant, yet," he said.
Cox's entry would help "widen and deepen" Mahindra First Choice's products, Dubey said.
"Each of (Cox) products has scope for deepening and widening, the adjacencies," Dubey added.
"Our investment in Mahindra First Choice Wheels, furthers Cox Automotive's strategic plans to create and grow used-vehicle marketsplaces," said Joe Luppino, chief corporate development officer at Cox Automotive.
"This opportunity allows us to partner with a company in the fast-growing Indian automotive market," Luppino said,
Support Our Journalism
We cannot do without you.. your contribution supports unbiased journalism
IBNS is not driven by any ism- not wokeism, not racism, not skewed secularism, not hyper right-wing or left liberal ideals, nor by any hardline religious beliefs or hyper nationalism. We want to serve you good old objective news, as they are. We do not judge or preach. We let people decide for themselves. We only try to present factual and well-sourced news.
Support objective journalism for a small contribution.
Latest Headlines
As Tim Cook steps down, Sundar Pichai’s reaction grabs attention
Wed, Apr 22 2026
Pension guarantee that’s winning India: Atal Pension Yojana records 9 crore subscribers
Wed, Apr 22 2026
Online Holiday Insurance for International Trips: A Well-Prepared Buyer's Checklist for Indian Travellers in 2026
Wed, Apr 22 2026
Persistent Systems shares fall 5% after weak Q4 earnings miss
Wed, Apr 22 2026
Sensex crashes 800 pts, Nifty below 24,500 as markets shrug off Trump’s Iran ceasefire extension
Wed, Apr 22 2026
Big milestone alert: UltraTech Cement crosses 200 MTPA capacity
Tue, Apr 21 2026
Amazon’s $25 billion AI gamechanger: Inside the massive $100 billion Anthropic deal
Tue, Apr 21 2026
How Payouts APIs Power Seamless Global Payments for Modern Platforms
Tue, Apr 21 2026
Oil jumps over 5% as Strait of Hormuz closure fuels supply fears
Mon, Apr 20 2026