QXL.com yesterday underlined its determination to become the dominant on-line auctioneer in Europe by announcing the continent's largest internet takeover.
The £347m all-share deal to take over Scandinavian rival Bidlet AB is the fourth acquisition QXL has made since floating in October and follows successful bids for rivals in Norway, Denmark and Poland.
Analysts believe QXL is trying to mimic the strategy of American companies such as Cisco which moved swiftly after floating to build dominant market positions through acquisitions. Goldman Sachs analyst Phil Clark said: "Consolidation is going to leave only two or three big players in this sector and you would expect QXL to be one of them."
However, QXL founder Tim Jackson is unlikely to take part in the minutiae of future deals after stepping down as a non-executive director to concentrate on his new venture capital role at Carlyle Internet Partners Europe and at a charitable foundation he is setting up. He will, however, remain as a special adviser to Mr Rose and QXL.com chairman Jonathan Bulkeley.
"Old founders never die they just send emails from home," Mr Jackson joked yesterday.
He said his resignation from the board was an indication of his faith in Mr Rose and his team's ability to develop the business.
Most of Mr Jackson's time will be taking up by managing the $800m (£500m) Chase internet investment fund. However, he is also becoming a trustee of a charitable foundation he has set up and is being registered by the Charity Commission.
Around £70m of Mr Jackson's £265m shareholding in QXL is being put towards good causes.
"It is important that entre preneurs who have made a lot of money very quickly put money back into the community," Mr Jackson said.
His move mirrors a trend among wealthy hi-tech entrepreneurs in the US. Bill Gates, Michael Dell, Jim Clark and Paul Allen have all established charitable foundations after making their fortunes.
Chief executive Jim Rose said the Bidlet acquisition will be financed through the issue of 23.5m new shares at £14.75 each and further deals were on the cards. Analysts would like to see QXL.com increase its presence in France and, in particular, in Germany.
Ricardo.de, Germany's second largest auction site which yesterday paid $30m for Switzerland's Auktion24.ch and is valued in excess of £1bn, is rumoured as a possible target.
Mr Rose said: "We want to be a leader in the consolidation process and talk to a lot of players all the time.
"Ricardo.de would be a great fit and would not be beyond us but there are others too. We'll look at everything."
Bidlet, which is Sweden's leading internet auction site and has services in Norway, Denmark and Finland, made a loss of £3.8m on revenues of £2.5m in the year to December last year.
It operates in a region that has been one of the earliest adopters of wireless devices and Mr Rose said Bidlet management's experience of serving a particularly internet wise customer base would help QXL.com roll-out its multi-platform strategy across the rest of Europe.
Following the deal, QXL will be active in 11 European countries and nine different languages.
Bidlet chairman Peter Sederowsky is expected to take up the post of non-executive director vacated by Mr Jackson. QXL shares closed down 9% at £13.32 after a 30% jump on Friday.
