Vente-Privée acquires Polish competitor

The French online event sales leader vente-privée.com continues to expand in Europe. This time the group has gone East, and announced on 2nd November the acquisition of a majority stake in Polish website zlotewyprzedaze.pl. The value of the stake acquired and of the investment have not been disclosed.

Warsaw-based Zlotewyprzedaze "is regarded as a benchmark player in the event sales sector in Poland," stated the French group in a press release, adding that the Zlotewyprzedaze directors "will continue to manage the website's business independently, under the supervision of vente-privee.com."

The acquisition has added to the portfolio of European websites specialising in selling brand overstock towards which Vente-Privée has targeted its investment recently. In the last few months, Jacques-Antoine Granjon's group has acquired stakes in Spanish website Privalia, Suisse website Eboutic and Danish website Designers and Friends.

Territorial expansion in Europe is one of Vente-Privée's strategic development vectors for the next few years. The group is currently present in 14 countries: France, Italy, Spain, Germany, the UK, Austria, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Denmark, Poland, Brazil and Mexico.

In the past, it also tried to make a foray into the USA, before giving up at the end of 2014 and choosing to focus on Europe.

"This new acquisition is proof of our long-term vision for the company, and marks a major step in our European expansion," underlined the CEO, Jacques-Antoine Granjon, cited in the press release.

Poland is regarded as a "strategic business" by the French group, "owing to the size of the market and its appeal for brands."

Vente-Privée was founded in 2001 and offers its 500 million members worldwide over 6,000 international brands in the apparel, home decoration, high tech, sport, fine foods and travel sectors, with discounts between 50% and 70%.

In 2015, the group recorded a revenue of €2 billion, equivalent to a 12% increase.