For the close to two years now, MIH (majority owners of Sulit.com.ph) has been trying to buy Tsikot — an online Filipino community/forum focused on cars and general automotive.
According to a source close to the deal, MIH offered “up to” Php100 Million to the founders of Tsikot. But there’s a catch — only 10% will be paid in cash (Php10 Million), straight up.
The rest will be staggered based on the performance and revenues of the site (more like an earn-out which is paid out over time as the acquired company achieves certain levels of sales or profitability).
The initial Php10 Million seemed a bit small and the earn-out for the next 5 years is not guaranteed. Likewise, the acquisition involved 100% of Tsikot (it started out as simple majority at first) so that means the founders will eventually be taken out of the picture completely.
Last week, negotiations tanked for the last time. Tsikot will continue to be run independently and MIH will pursue the car classifieds thru Sulit.com.ph (a move they’ve already been doing for a while now).
MIH has investments in NimBuzz, OLX, Tencent and many other internet and e-commerce sites around the world. The company bought 51% of Sulit.com.ph back in 2009 for an rumored $1 million (a scoop we first reported here).
It seems the merger is beneficial for the owners/company but not for the users. I am excited for the new players. Mybenta (though I don’t like the features) has a potential because those who hates OLX are signing up here. There are so many other online classified ads but worth noting are the niche based like kotchiko.com (cars) and serbida.com (services)