PricePanda, Getprice to merge

Price comparison site, PricePanda, and Sydney-based, Getprice, will merge to create an online comparison shopping business network across the Asia Pacific.

The newly created group will operate as Next Commerce and will operate in nine countries across Asia Pacific and reach more than four million unique visitors each month.

Under the umbrella of Next Commerce, PricePanda and Getprice will continue to operate as standalone brands in their respective markets.

Jared Oken, Getprice co-founder, will be the new CEO of Next Commerce. Chris Hitchen, also a co-founder of Getprice, will chair the board of directors that will include Oliver Samwer from Rocket Internet.

As part of this transaction, PricePanda’s existing shareholders including Tengelmann Ventures, subsidiary of the German retail giant, Tengelmann; the Swedish investment company, Kinnevik; and the Asia Pacific, Internet Group, which is Rocket Internet’s joint venture with Ooredoo – formerly Qatar Telecom – in South East Asia, have reinvested in the business to fund its further growth.

Philip Wegener, MD of PricePanda, said there are tremendous opportunities in the large and rapidly growing Asia Pacific market.

“We are excited to capitalise on the combined expertise that will enable us to pursue new initiatives in mobile, media, and launching new products and services in the region. We are convinced of the strategic benefits of this alliance, forming a strong market leader with an impressive track record both in technology and operations,” Wegener said.

Oken said the merger with lifts the growth potential of both businesses to a completely new level.

“Together we will focus on both extending our lead in the Australian market as well as rapid growth in South East Asia and other emerging markets, including significant investment in scaling our operations team in Manila and our regional sales team.”