Online fashion retailer Zalando has announced its intention to acquire rival ABOUT YOU.

The German company, which offers around 6,000 lifestyle brands to over 50 million customers, said the sale will allow the companies to better serve the needs of their customers and cover a larger share of the European fashion and lifestyle market.

ABOUT YOU, which aims to appeal to a younger audience, currently has over 12 million active customers, a network of over 27,000 content creators who showcase around 700,00 different styles from different brands.

Zalando said that ABOUT YOU’s operations will add scale and complementary capabilities, with the two businesses able to collaborate across a wide range of areas including logistics, payments, and commercial collaborations.

The companies have entered into a business agreement under which Zalando intends to submit a voluntary public tender offer to acquire up to 100 per cent of ABOUT YOU's share capital, with an offer of €6.50 per share.

The deal, which is subject to approval by German regulator BaFin, is expected to close in summer 2025.

Major ABOUT YOU shareholders, including Otto Group, Otto Family, HEARTLAND and the ABOUT YOU management, who represent around 73 per cent of ABOUT YOU’s shareholders, have already approved the deal.

“Redefining fashion and lifestyle shopping by creating the best possible experience for customers and partners has always driven both our teams and I’m excited about how together we’ll be able to cover a larger share of the fashion and lifestyle market,” said Robert Gentz, co-chief executive and co-founder of Zalando. “In B2C, we can offer customers and brands distinct and rich shopping experience while 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.”

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