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Made.com Group Plc has announced the acquisition of Trouva to accelerate the group’s strategic priorities around choice and reach.
Trouva is the platform to discover independent boutiques and brands offering customers a curated range of homewares, lifestyle and fashion products. The company has relationships with over 700 boutiques across Europe and has delivered to 34 countries worldwide this year.
Made said the acquisition of Trouva is expected to accelerate the expansion of homeware SKU count on Made’s curated marketplace, giving customers more variety.
Additionally, the group anticipates that leveraging Trouva’s cross-border functionality will increase the distribution coverage for Made’s marketplace product offer.
Upon the acquisition, Trouva will continue to operate as a standalone brand led by the current leadership team of Alex Loizou, CEO, and Dimple Patel, COO.
The integration of Trouva into Made’s existing marketplace tech stack will reportedly enhance functionality around dropship, carrier integration and inventory management.
Additionally, the group intends to build out the existing Trouva tech hub in Portugal to create a new centre of excellence, and the integration of Trouva will be led by Made chief technology officer Geert Engels.
Total cash flow on the combined acquisition consideration and capex is now expected to be £13-18m for 2022, compared to previous guidance of £15-20m. The acquisition will be fully funded by cash and is reportedly expected to deliver a “strong” return on investment.
Trouva is currently loss making, and Made said the enlarged group will leverage scale and marketing efficiency and expertise to improve the financial performance of Trouva.
Nicola Thompson, chief executive officer of Made, said: “This acquisition will allow us to significantly accelerate our growth strategy by expanding our curated product range – giving our customers more choice and newness – and scaling the business in key territories both established and targeted by leveraging Trouva’s exceptional cross-border technology.”
Alex Loizou, co-founder and CEO of Trouva, added: “The combination of the two businesses enables us to leverage synergies across our brands, customers and our technology platform. By becoming part of the Made group, we will continue on our mission to support independent boutiques and brands by making their curation accessible.”
