eBay and Alibaba have been outbid in their efforts to acquire Allegro, the largest ecommerce marketplace serving Poland. Instead the company will be acquired by private equity firms Cinven, Permira and Mid Europa.
Paying $3.253 billion values Allegro‘s 20 million registered users at just over $162 dollars per head. Comparing that with the £25 million Rakuten paid for Play.com at about £3.50 for each of 7 million active users and the perceived value of Allegro becomes obvious. Allegro is a burgeoning successful marketplace with real potential.
It’s a bit of a blow for eBay, who already compete against Allegro in Poland. If eBay (or Alibaba or Amazon) had managed to acquire Allegro it would have given them a foot hold not just in Poland but across Eastern Europe.
The Allegro marketplace has total sales of more than 850 thousand items a day. The company employs 1,275 people across five offices in Poznań, Warszawa, Toruń, Wrocław and Kraków.
If you’re still wondering if you should sell on Allegro, earlier this year the experts in international trade at Pentagon said “Polish ecommerce is outpacing the rest of Europe, with 23% growth year-on-year compared to 18% in the rest of the single market. Moreover, the Allegro marketplace accounts for more than 50% of the Polish ecommerce market making it the number one destination for British brands looking to export to the country”.
4 Responses
Wait until they find out it was built by British Leyland, that might lower the valuation.
Past:
July 2015 – private equity firms including Permira bought Magento (aiming at Enterprise customer segment and cloud-based services )
Present:
October 2016 – private equity firms Cinven, Permira and Mid Europa targeted Allegro (platform to compete with Amazon/Ebay in Western Europe?)
Future?
January 2018 – Magento+Allegro sold to Alibaba?
IMHO: in many cases, private equity firms do not create much value, they mostly take advantage. Will sellers/buyers benefit ,- we shell see.
If you are already selling on Amazon or eBay but want to get access to Allegro. Check out XSellco Fusion integration for Allegro as standard.
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We knew it was coming and I hope this only builds on Allegro’s strengths.
Being really the number one marketplace in Poland I am surprised not more UK sellers are listing on there.
Poland’s ecommerce is really starting to kick in and in the last 2 years when I have visited I have seen the increase in couriers (mainly DPD) and use of ecommerce.
With companies like InPost being based there, Poland is ready for a massive ecommerce boom (really it has already started) and it’s time UK sellers started offering their good there.
All the best,
Charlie McBroom