eBay Goes Shopping In Germany
eBay has agreed to buy brands4friends, a German online fashion shopping club, for 200 million dollars in cash. The Berlin-based brands4friends provides its members with goods from well-known brands such as Buffalo, Calvin Klein, and Diesel at reduced prices through daily offers. brands4friends currently has 3.5 million members in Germany.
Through the acquisition, eBay plans to strengthen its position in online fashion in Europe. Currently, online shopping clubs account for about 20 percent of online fashion sales in Europe. The acquisition is still subject to regulatory approval. If all goes as planned, the deal will close in the first quarter of 2011.
"We want to give our customers the best possible fashion experience online," Doug McCallum, senior vice president for eBay in Europe, said in a statement. "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," McCallum said.
"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 e-commerce experience to accelerate the growth of our shopping community," Brands4friends chief executive Sergio Dias said.
