Berlin-based SellerX, a company that buys and builds Amazon businesses, announced on Wednesday, May 31, that it has signed an agreement to acquire US-based Elevate Brands, an aggregator of ecommerce businesses.
The deal should be completed by the end of June 2023.
The merged companies will become SellerX Group, an ecommerce brand with a portfolio encompassing over 40,000 consumer goods. The company says it will have a “strong” global presence with combined sales of over €400M.
Raises equity financing
Several current SellerX investors also invested over €60M in connection with the acquisition. Sofina led the round with participation from L Catterton, Cherry Ventures, Felix Capital, 83North, Upper90, and TRCM Fund.
Furthermore, the current credit facility for the assets and accounts managed by BlackRock and Victory Park Capital has been expanded, providing more funding for potential M&A possibilities for the merged company.
About Elevate Brands
Founded in 2017 by Ryan Gnesin, Elevate Brands is an ecommerce aggregator with a focus on creating premium omnichannel brands. The company claims to have become a leader in its field.
Currently, 32 brands from different product categories are managed by Elevate. It has over $250M in capital from stock and debt from reputable investors, including funds and accounts managed by BlackRock, Upper90, Soroban Capital, TRCM Fund, and Hersch Klaff.
With this acquisition, the co-founders of Elevate will take on key leadership positions, CEO Ryan Gnesin will serve as President of the combined business, Chief M&A Officer Jeremy Bell will become Global Head of M&A, and Chief Growth Officer Rob Bell will head Global Business Development.
Ryan Gnesin, co-founder of Elevate Brands and President of the combined company, says, “We are thrilled to combine forces with SellerX and to continue building world-class omnichannel brands. Together we have a mission of becoming one of the world’s leading consumer product companies.”
“Our tremendously talented team is excited to continue expanding our portfolio across numerous distribution channels, including traditional retail partners. The combined business has the technology, expertise and a wealth of data that will enable us to identify emerging consumer trends, rapidly test and iterate product ideas and fulfil demand across Europe and North America.”
Aim of this acquisition
Through this merger, two major participants in the aggregator industry are brought together, each of which has made a name for itself as a partner that marketplace-native merchants can rely on.
Combining global footprints, the SellerX Group will serve both the European and American markets with about equal revenue distribution between the two.
The merged brand portfolio will include over 80 Amazon-native private-label consumer brands in the categories of consumables, mobile accessories, home & kitchen, pets, and sports & outdoors.
The brand will capitalise on SellerX’s technological platform and global supply chain infrastructure with exclusive warehouse operations, product launch, and globalisation capabilities.
Elevate Brands will offer its experience in transforming market-native goods into consumer brands marketed via a variety of channels. The firm says it will realise synergies across the value chain by utilising an operational platform and will achieve a profitability profile through operational efficiency.
Additionally, SellerX Group says it will be able to increase its omnichannel distribution capabilities in regional markets, including through conventional retail channels.
SellerX current co-founders Philipp Triebel and Malte Horeyseck will continue to lead the combined company as Co-CEOs.
Philipp Triebel, co-CEO of the combined company, says, “Elevate Brands and SellerX are a perfect match: a strong cultural fit, a shared vision, and complementary capabilities. This acquisition combines our know-how and diversified portfolios of strong brands with a market-leading technology platform and strong operational infrastructure.
About SellerX
SellerX was founded in 2020 by HBS graduates Malte Horeyseck and Philipp Triebel. Horeyseck had built an ecommerce business to $1B+ in revenue as a co-founder and Triebel is a former Goldman Sachs SSG with extensive PE roll-up experience.
The company became a leading acquirer of third-party brands on the Amazon marketplace in Europe and the US, bringing more than 50 ecommerce brands under its belt in under a year.
Its goal is to be the Buyer of Choice for top Amazon FBA and other ecommerce sellers and to establish an “innovative” new model for the future of consumer goods globally. SellerX has raised over $750M in equity and debt financing.
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