Germany's Zalando & ABOUT YOU team up for pan-EU fashion expansion
On 1 July 2025, the European Commission granted merger control clearance for the transaction including the voluntary public takeover offer to the shareholders of ABOUT YOU. Zalando has now acquired 91.45% of ABOUT YOU's share capital (excluding treasury shares).
Zalando has completed its strategic acquisition of ABOUT YOU, securing 91.45 per cent of its share capital. The move aims to create a pan-European fashion e-commerce ecosystem, combining B2C and B2B strengths. ABOUT YOU will retain its identity, while synergies in logistics, software, and operations are expected to deliver €100 million (~$117 million) in annual EBIT gains.
Zalando still has the firm intention as a next step to carry out a squeeze-out of the remaining minority shareholders of ABOUT YOU and to acquire the remaining ABOUT YOU shares against adequate cash compensation. The squeeze-out shall take place as part of a merger of ABOUT YOU into a wholly owned subsidiary of Zalando.
Since announcing the intention to team up on 11 December 2024, both Zalando and ABOUT YOU have been preparing for this next phase. Each company has developed plans to ensure a smooth collaboration and clear focus on joint value creation after closing, aiming to combine their complementary strengths while preserving their unique identities.
'Both companies grew from local start-ups to European success stories by understanding the nuanced and diverse needs of customers across many markets, and driven by a relentless focus on quality and innovation. Together, we'll work to be an unbeatable team to lead the way in European fashion and lifestyle E-commerce,' said Robert Gentz, Co-CEO and Co-Founder of Zalando . 'In B2C, we offer customers and brands two distinct and rich shopping experiences. In B2B, combining our complementary logistics and software capabilities ZEOS, 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.'
'At the heart of this team-up is our shared commitment to redefining fashion and lifestyle shopping and creating real value for our customers and partners. We are excited to join forces with Zalando to drive innovation and realise new growth opportunities for SCAYLE and ABOUT YOU,' said Tarek Müller, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of ABOUT YOU. 'This strategic transaction opens the door to great collaboration, while allowing us to stay true to the individuality and energy that define ABOUT YOU.'
ABOUT YOU's operations add scale and complementary capabilities, fully aligning with Zalando's ecosystem strategy, as communicated in March 2024, to build a pan-European fashion and lifestyle e-commerce ecosystem. The transaction presents compelling value creation opportunities that the two companies, operating in the same industry, can generate by collaborating in a wide range of areas, including B2B, logistics, payments, and commercial collaboration. In the longer term, Zalando targets significant Group EBIT synergies of around 100 million euros per annum.
In the B2C growth vector, adding ABOUT YOU will enable Zalando to implement a dual-brand strategy. Each brand retains its distinct identity while leveraging synergies in logistics, payment infrastructure and commercial collaboration. This strategic move allows the combined entity to provide tailored and separate shopping experiences, effectively meeting the unique needs and preferences of customers.
In the B2B growth vector, ABOUT YOU's SCAYLE complements Zalando's B2B vision to build an operating system for fashion and lifestyle. ZEOS, Tradebyte and SCAYLE join forces to help brands and retailers manage their multi-channel business across Europe and beyond with a suite of logistics, software and service offerings.
ABOUT YOU's management board members Sebastian Betz, Tarek Müller, and Hannes Wiese will continue their successful work in their current roles as part of the combined group.
Underpinning management's conviction in the value creation of this transaction, Zalando in December 2024 also confirmed its medium-term outlook for the combined group. Zalando, including ABOUT YOU, is expected to grow GMV and revenue until 2028 at a 5-year compound annual growth rate of between 5% and 10%1. The combined group expects an adjusted EBIT margin in 2028 in the corridor of 6% to 8%, yielding a significant increase in absolute profit by creating a combined group at a larger scale. Together, Zalando and ABOUT YOU aim to cover a larger share of the 450-billion-euro European fashion market in the long term.
Zalando will provide a first outlook for the full year 2025 for the combined business when it reports second-quarter results on 6 August 2025.
Born in Europe, Built to Grow
The combination brings together two founder-led teams with a strong cultural fit, an entrepreneurial track record, and highly complementary capabilities. Both companies built their success on understanding Europe's unique complexity and hence reflect Europe's unique strengths – cultural diversity and collaborative innovation across borders and markets.
'Zalando and ABOUT YOU are proof that Europe can produce growth companies for the digital age,' said Gentz . 'We are excited about teaming up for the next stage of our joint journey to deliver exciting innovation and sustainable growth at scale across Europe.' Note: The headline, insights, and image of this press release may have been refined by the Fibre2Fashion staff; the rest of the content remains unchanged.
Fibre2Fashion News Desk (RM)
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