Online fashion retailer Global Fashion Group announced it plans to go public via an initial public offering, in a bid to raise some 300 million euros to fund expansion across its rapidly growing Russia, Brazil and Indonesia businesses.
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Global Fashion Group (GFG), which operates The Iconic and Zalora shopping platforms, among others, will be listed in Germany on Frankfurt’s Prime Standard market over the summer.
Founded in 2011, GFG operates four e-commerce platforms across the globe, with a focus on regions typically overlooked by other international online fashion firms. GFG’s portfolio includes The Iconic, in Australia and New Zealand; Zalora in Asia, which includes Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines; Dafiti in Latin America; and La Moda in Russia.
The company is helmed by two German co-chief executives, Christoph Barchewitz and Patrick Schmidt.
“We are excited about this next step for GFG. It is still very early days for fashion and lifestyle e-commerce in our markets. Today, most of our markets have less e-commerce adoption than Europe had 10 years ago,” said the co-CEOs in a statement this week.
“As consumer behaviour migrates towards e-commerce, GFG’s well-known consumer platforms, local teams, and fashion-specific operational infrastructure put us at the forefront of this growth opportunity. An IPO will allow us to keep investing in our end-to-end customer proposition, further strengthening our position as the leading fashion and lifestyle destination in growth markets.”
In 2018, GFG reported an increase in net merchandise value of 23 per cent to €1.45bn. For the twelve months, the group reported an adjusted loss before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation last year of €49.8m, down from €98m the year before.
Looking ahead, GFG expects NMV to grow by 20-23% (on an organic basis) to reach €1.7bn to €1.8bn in 2019.
Further, the company expects to generate more than €1.3 billion in revenue and to make additional progress towards EBITDA break-even. GFG said it plans to invest in technology and fulfillment infrastructure, including a new automated warehouse in Brazil.
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GFG is majority-owned by Sweden’s Kinnevik, which holds a 35 per cent, and German tech incubator Rocket Internet, which has a 21 per cent stake.