Berlin-based Zalando to acquire e-commerce platform ABOUT YOU in €1.1B deal: Know more

On Wednesday, Zalando, a Berlin-based pan-European ecosystem for fashion and lifestyle e-commerce, announced plans to submit a voluntary public tender offer to acquire up to 100 per cent of ABOUT YOU’s share capital, valuing at €1.1B. 

Based out of Hamburg, ABOUT YOU is an e-commerce platform specialising in fashion and lifestyle products.

With over 45 million monthly active users, it offers a personalised shopping experience through its innovative app and website.

ABOUT YOU’s founders and management board members Sebastian Betz, Tarek Müller, and Hannes Wiese, are committed to accepting the offer and continuing their successful work in their current roles.

The offer

Zalando plans to make a public offer of €6.50 per share for ABOUT YOU. This price is 12 per cent higher than the average target price of €5.80 set by analysts and 107 per cent more than ABOUT YOU’s average share price over the last three months, as of December 10, 2024.

This offer is designed to provide good value for current ABOUT YOU shareholders.

The deal is expected to finalise in the summer of 2025, pending regulatory approvals.

Major shareholders of ABOUT YOU, such as Otto Group, the Otto Family, HEARTLAND, and the ABOUT YOU Management, have agreed to sell their shares, which make up about 73 per cent of the company.

This will be done through a public offer or separate agreements with Zalando.

“We are thrilled to team up with so many brilliant entrepreneurial colleagues and together move the success stories of Zalando and ABOUT YOU to the next level,” says Tarek Müller, the co-founder and co-CEO of ABOUT YOU.

“This transaction creates something truly unique, with two distinct and independent B2C businesses serving the specific needs of their customers. At the same time, the complementary strengths of the B2B businesses will seamlessly align to deliver a comprehensive and optimized offer for clients in logistics, software, and services,” adds Müller.

The acquisition

ABOUT YOU’s operations help Zalando grow and enhance its offerings, supporting its strategy announced in March 2024 to build a European fashion and lifestyle e-commerce platform.

This strategy focuses on two main areas –B2C and B2B to strengthen relationships with customers and partners.

Zalando is also confirming its medium-term goals for the combined group.

Zalando and ABOUT YOU expect to increase their Gross Merchandise Value (GMV) and revenue until 2028, with an annual growth rate of 5 per cent to 10 per cent.

They aim for an adjusted EBIT margin of 6 per cent to 8 per cent by 2028, which would lead to a significant increase in profit due to their larger size.

Together, Zalando and ABOUT YOU plan to capture a bigger share of the €450B European fashion market than previously targeted.

In the long term, Zalando aims for Group EBIT synergies of about €100M per year.

In the B2C growth vector, adding ABOUT YOU will enable Zalando to implement a dual-brand strategy. Each brand will retain its distinct identity while leveraging synergies in logistics, payment infrastructure, and commercial collaboration.

With a network of over 27,000 content creators, ABOUT YOU offers over 12 million active customers access to 700,000 styles from renowned brands, innovative manufacturers, private labels, and unique celebrity collections. 

Its collaborations with international talents from sports, music, film, and modelling have led to 119 exclusive collections for its style-conscious customers.

In the B2B growth vector, ABOUT YOU’s SCAYLE software unit will support Zalando’s e-commerce operating system ZEOS which enables brands and retailers to manage their multi-channel business across Europe within one unified platform, consisting of logistics infrastructure, software, and service offerings.

“Redefining fashion and lifestyle shopping by creating the best possible experience for customers and partners has always driven both our teams. I’m excited about how together we’ll be able to cover a larger share of the fashion and lifestyle market,” says Robert Gentz, co-CEO and co-founder of Zalando.

“In B2C, we can offer customers and brands distinct and rich shopping experiences. In B2B, combining our complementary software capabilities, Tradebyte and SCAYLE, will create an even more advanced e-commerce operating system that enables brands and retailers to manage their multi-channel business across Europe and beyond,” Gentz.