The Airtasker Ltd (ASX: ART) share price is currently halted after the tasking platform business announced an acquisition and a capital raising.

Airtasker has revealed that it’s going to buy Australia’s third largest local services platform called Oneflare. It’s also launching a capital raising to acquire the business.

Oneflare deal

Airtasker has entered into a binding agreement to buy Oneflare, which has a “strong” presence in trades, home improvement and professional services according to Airtasker.

The acquisition price is $9.8 million. This will be $2.25 million in cash and $7.55 million in Airtasker shares.

Airtasker noted that the deal represents a valuation of 1.6 times the forecast revenue for FY23 which is expected to be more than $6 million.

Reasoning for the acquisition

Airtasker said that the deal will bring together Australia’s number one marketplace for local services with Oneflare, which will “strengthen marketplace network effects, offering more job opportunities to service pros (both independent taskers and verified businesses) whilst providing customers with access to a greater range of services, skills and faster response times.”

The company also pointed out that this will “accelerate Airtasker’s strategic expansion into high-value service categories including trades, home improvement and professional services.”

It will also mean that both businesses operate on a single technology platform to serve a “significantly larger user base” and create a range of synergies across technology, data, brand and financial areas.

Oneflare reportedly serves more than 540,000 customers and 14,500 verified businesses each year. It has 480,000 unique visitors to the Oneflare platform each month. More than 50,000 jobs are posted each month. The estimated average task price is $2,300.

How is Airtasker going to fund this acquisition?

Airtasker is launching a fully underwritten $6.25 million equity placement at an Airtasker share price of 43 cents. This will be used to fund the cash component of the deal, the FY23 estimated investment in Oneflare and the acquisition and placement costs.

The directors of Airtasker will subscribe for $3.55 million in the placement, though this will be subject to shareholder approval.

Airtasker will also carry out a share purchase plan (SPP) to raise up to $1.2 million for eligible shareholders in Australia and New Zealand.

Management commentary

The Airtasker co-founder and CEO Tim Fung said:

I’m super stoked to bring together Airtasker and Oneflare to create Australia’s number one marketplace for local services.

Together, we can offer our customers access to an even greater range of local services and faster response times whilst creating more job opportunities than ever before.

By acquiring Oneflare, we also accelerate a push into higher value service categories including trades, home improvement and professional services to deliver on our mission: to empower people to realise the full value of their skills.

Airtasker share price snapshot

Over the last six months, the Airtasker share price has dropped by over 50%.

The post Airtasker share price on ice amid major acquisition news appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Tristan Harrison has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has recommended Airtasker Limited. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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