To improve its standing in the European fashion and lifestyle e-commerce sector, Zalando, a German online fashion marketplace, has offered to pay around €1.2 billion ($1.3 billion) to acquire its competitor, About You.
According to Zalando, the bulk of About You’s owners, who own about 73% of the company’s share capital, have established legally binding agreements to sell their holdings. Zalando stated that it plans to eventually purchase all of About You’s stock.
The Otto Group, the Otto Family, Bestseller’s investment division Heartland, and the About You management hold the majority of the company’s shares. As part of the merged company, Sebastian Betz, Tarek Müller, and Hannes Wiese, the founders and management board members of About You, will continue in their current positions.
Zalando’s co-founder and CEO, Robert Gentz, stated that the agreement would enable the company to capture a greater portion of the European e-commerce market for fashion and lifestyle.
In order for both businesses to continue catering to their respective clientele, Zalando and About You are expected to coexist. Zalando’s long-term goal is to generate a combined annual revenue of 100 million euros before interest and taxes.
Established in 2014 as a division of the Otto Group, About You collaborates with over 27,000 content producers to integrate entertainment and shopping via social media, interactive formats, and live events. In 2021, it began a well-known partnership with American model Kendall Jenner.
Regarded as one of the biggest fashion retailers in Germany, About You sells to over 12 million active users throughout Europe and prioritises mobile shopping for its 2,000 brands, which include Tommy Hilfiger, Lacoste, Nike, Vero Moda, Polo Ralph Lauren, and Levi’s.
Gentz thinks Zalando’s own e-commerce operating system, Zeos, will work well with About You’s cloud-based enterprise shop system, Scayle, from a business-to-business standpoint. Scayle provides more than 200 fashion and lifestyle stores in North America and Europe with customised corporate software solutions.
