Allegro takes another leap to widen its international presence by finalizing the acquisition of Mall Group and WE|DO

01.04.2022

The merger between Allegro, Mall Group and WE|DO will strengthen the companies’ position as a leading marketplace platform for European customers and merchants, propelling the group’s international expansion.
The move will improve the shopping experience and provide the broadest selection at best prices and maximum convenience for 70m potential customers across the region.
Well-established e-commerce brands are now under one roof, while cross-country teams can now work together on extending a unique international offer.
The group’s 135k merchants across Central and Eastern Europe will benefit from the ability to list once and sell everywhere, gaining wider access to a 240-billion euro addressable retail market.
It is a significant step on the group’s international expansion roadmap. The merger will accelerate its growth across Europe, with merchants and buyers already benefiting from EU-wide access to its marketplace via allegro.com.

Allegro, the most popular shopping platform in Poland and one of the world’s top ten e-commerce websites, finalizes the deal to acquire the Mall Group and WE|DO to build on the best of the joining companies and boost the enlarged group’s international expansion. The game-changing merger of a unique scale will enable international merchants from across the wider geographical footprint and beyond to benefit from listing once and selling everywhere, while granting tens of millions of EU consumers convenient access to improved selection, best prices and delivery experience.

The group continues its expansion in Europe. Just a while back Allegro enabled buyers and sellers from across the EU to benefit from the platform’s top-class shopping convenience. Today, together with the Mall Group and WE|DO, we are finalizing the move which will solidify the enlarged group’s position as the marketplace of choice across the CEE and beyond. Local merchants will now be able to become international, while customers will benefit from the best possible offer. There is no online player offering such great selection at such competitive pricing across the region, and this is what we’ll do. The goal is to be the No. 1 online shopping destination across the countries the group operates in thanks to innovative and convenient tools for merchants, which in turn ensures that we have the widest selection at best prices. This scales much better when done with local small and medium-sized enterprises, and the hand-in-hand success of entrepreneurs and Allegro's marketplace in Poland is something the group will replicate across its wider footprint.

François Nuyts, Allegro CEO,

The merger expands the joint platform’s presence in Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia and Croatia, nearly doubling its addressable market in countries with highly attractive fundamentals and growth potential. It brings a range of established regional brands – including Mall, WE|DO, mimovrste, CZC.cz, and of course Allegro, Ceneo, or eBilet – under one roof, while also uniting a 7,150-strong international talent pool focused on e-commerce innovation. Allegro will propel the Mall Group’s 3P business to accelerate the group’s overall flywheel and its clients will be able to gradually take advantage of the Smart! programme as well as many loyalty benefits like free deliveries, convenient buy-now-pay-later options by Allegro Pay, or access to the B2B platform. At the same time, merchants will gain access to a seamless selling experience, innovative solutions or advertising products, with all sides benefiting from best-in-class delivery experience thanks to the group’s unrivaled logistics offer.

Since the beginning of our discussions, I can clearly see how well our groups fit together and how well Allegro and Mall Group complement each other. While Allegro is the marketplace champion, we have long-standing strong relationships with suppliers, offering access to extensive infrastructure and last-mile solutions across the region. Together we are an e-commerce champion sharing the same core - an innovative, customer-centric approach to business. We want to build on the best of our worlds and extend our unique model to make sure we’re the number one shopping destination for customers across the CEE and beyond.

Jan Hanuš, Mall Group CEO

We are proud that our expertise in last mile logistics can contribute to building an international marketplace. We also welcome a major improvement in access to all service solutions and other logistics resources that will accelerate the group’s development, focusing on the long-term goal: providing top last-mile delivery service to all our customers and merchants. WE|DO’s 300 couriers and 1,200 pick-up points will enhance the group’s joint offer. By combining our strengths, I am sure we are entering an exciting chapter of our business, also for our joint staff, which can look forward to expanding their talent inside the new group.

Daniel Mareš, WE|DO CEO

The platforms and businesses will be gradually uniting, while the implementation of strategic client-facing solutions across the group will start immediately. Overall, the merger will widen revenue streams by leveraging on the companies’ functionalities, guided by the ambition to be the preferred online shopping destination across the group’s geographical footprint.

Transaction details

The Allegro Group paid a total of 881 million euro (approx. PLN 4,1 billion) to purchase 100% of shares in each of Mall Group and WE|DO. The amount was comprised of the following transactions:

Mall Group was acquired for 867 million euro, with 53% of the amount financed with cash on hand and new debt, totalling 459.5 million euro (approx. PLN 2,137.0 million), and the remaining 47%, or 407.5 million euro (PLN 1,883.7 million), was settled by issuing 33.6 million shares in Allegro.eu, valued at PLN 55.98 apiece (approx. 12.11 euro per share).
Allegro.pl purchased WE|DO for 14 million euro (approx. PLN 65.1 million) paid in cash.

Polish zloty values translated at the PLN/EUR exchange rate of 4.6507 from 30 March 2022 or exchange rate in accordance with the SPA.

The price still remains subject to the earlier flagged 50-million euro price adjustment based on specific short-term objectives for Mall Group’s financial year ending March 31, but its application is unlikely.

J.P. Morgan acted as exclusive financial advisor, while Clifford Chance served as legal counsel to Allegro for this transaction. Morgan Stanley worked as an exclusive financial advisor for the Mall Group and its shareholders. White & Case was the legal counsel for Mall Group’s shareholders, while Šrubař & Partners served as legal counsel to the target companies.

For more details related to the acquisition, please contact our IR at ir@allegro.eu and media relations at prasa@allegro.pl.