Deal designed to strengthen eBay's position as a leading European
online fashion destination
SAN JOSE, Calif. & BERLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
eBay Inc. (Nasdaq:EBAY) today announced it has reached a definitive
agreement to acquire all of the shares of brands4friends,
Germany's largest online shopping club for fashion and lifestyle, for
cash at a transaction value of approximately US$200 million (EUR150
million). The move is designed to strengthen eBay's position as a
leading online fashion destination in Europe. eBay is the world's
leading online marketplace and a leader in online fashion sales,
generating more than $5.4 billion in clothing, shoes and accessories
merchandise volume annually.
Germany's largest online shopping club, brands4friends sells
high-quality goods from renowned fashion and lifestyle brands at
significantly reduced prices to members through limited special offers
on a daily basis.
Founded in 2007, brands4friends has approximately 3.5 million members in
Germany, and has held a wide variety of campaigns with more than 600 top
brands, including international fashion brands such as Buffalo, Calvin
Klein and Diesel. The company, which employs approximately 200 people,
is headquartered in Berlin.
"We want to give our customers the best possible fashion experience
online," said Doug McCallum, Senior Vice President for eBay in Europe.
"With the acquisition of brands4friends, we will enter the online
shopping club market with an established and dynamic partner who has the
expertise, relationships and passion to match our own ambition. We
expect many eBay customers will enjoy great deals on international
fashion brands by joining the brands4friends community."
Online shopping clubs are a fast growing part of the online fashion
market, and now account for approximately 20 percent of online fashion
sales in Europe, according to eBay's own research.
"eBay is the perfect partner for us," said Sergio Dias, Chief Executive
Officer of brands4friends. "We are able to bring our retail and brand
competence and industry knowledge to eBay, and we can expect to benefit
from eBay's traffic and ecommerce experience to accelerate the growth of
our shopping community."
In the last 18 months, eBay has invested heavily in its fashion
business, improving its online shopping experience and opening the eBay
Outlet in the U.K. and Germany, offering eBay customers the ability to
buy direct from leading fashion brands. eBay has also partnered with
brands for flash sales and Daily Deals at significant discounts for
customers and launched a global Fashion iPhone application that lets
consumers buy fashion items via their mobile devices. Globally, top
designers have also created exclusive fashion collections for eBay
customers.
As part of the deal eBay will assume brands4friends' equity interests in
U.K. shopping club SecretSales.com
and in Japan, brands4friends.jp.
The acquisition, which is subject to regulatory approval among other
conditions, is expected to close in the first quarter of 2011. eBay does
not expect this acquisition to have a material impact on its 2011
financial results.
Allen & Company is serving as financial advisor to brands4friends.
About eBay
Founded in 1995 in San Jose, Calif., eBay Inc. (NASDAQ:EBAY) connects
hundreds of millions of buyers and sellers globally on a daily basis
through eBay, the world's largest online marketplace, and PayPal, which
enables individuals and businesses to securely, easily and quickly send
and receive online payments. We also reach millions through specialized
marketplaces such as StubHub, the world's largest ticket marketplace,
and eBay Classifieds sites, which together have a presence in more than
1,000 cities around the world. For more information about the company
and our global portfolio of online brands, visit www.ebayinc.com.
About brands4friends
brands4friends.de
is Germany's largest online shopping club with approximately 3.5 million
registered club members, who are on average 32 years old.
brands4friends.de is one of the fastest growing ecommerce communities
worldwide, with successful international operations in Austria, the U.K.
and Japan. With a total of 3.5 million members in Germany,
brands4friends.de sells high-quality goods from renowned fashion and
lifestyle brands at significantly reduced prices exclusively to its
members. brands4friends.de presents limited special offers on a daily
basis of high-quality products from more than 600 manufacturers,
representing both overstocks from current collections as well as "off
season" goods and special collections. brands4friends.de went online in
September 2007 and currently employs 200 people at its headquarters in
the center of Berlin. The company's Chief Executive Officer is Sergio
Dias. Operated by Private Sale GmbH, brands4friends.de has already been
awarded numerous distinctions.
Forward-Looking Statement
This announcement contains forward-looking statements that involve risks
and uncertainties, and actual results could differ materially from those
discussed. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences
include, but are not limited to, the receipt and timing of regulatory
approval for the transaction, the possibility that the transaction may
not close, the reaction of the users of brands4friends services, the
future growth of brands4friends business, the reaction of competitors to
the transaction and the possibility that integration following the
transaction may be more difficult than expected. More information about
potential factors which could affect our business and results is
included in eBay's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended
December 31, 2009, its Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, its Current
Reports on Form 8-K, and other periodic filings. All forward-looking
statements are based on information available to eBay on the date
hereof, and eBay assumes no obligation to update such statements.
eBay U.S.
John Pluhowski, 408-376-7458
press@ebay.com
or
eBay
Germany
Maike Fuest, +49 (0)30-80 19 51 61
presse@ebay.de
or
brands4friends
cg@brands4friends.de
+49
(0)30-72 61 94 83 8
Source: eBay Inc.
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