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KINNEVIK ACQUIRES AN ADDITIONAL 10% OF ZALANDO

18 October 2012, 8:01 AM
KINNEVIK ACQUIRES AN ADDITIONAL 10% OF ZALANDO AND BECOMES THE LARGEST OWNER OF EUROPE'S LEADING ONLINE SHOE AND FASHION RETAILER

Investment AB Kinnevik ("Kinnevik") today announced that it has acquired an additional 10% of common and preferred equity in Zalando for a total consideration of EUR 287m. Sellers include the early stage-investors Holtzbrinck Ventures, Tengelmann and Rocket Internet that all sell a small portion of their stake while holding on to the major part of their shares.  After the transaction, Kinnevik's ownership is 35% of which 26% is held directly and 9% indirectly via Rocket Internet.

Zalando, which was founded in 2008, has operations in 14 European markets and it is the largest online player in the fashion sector in Europe. It has grown rapidly and reported net sales of EUR 510m in 2011 and EUR 471m in the first six months of 2012. In its more mature markets, including Germany, Austria and Switzerland, the company has demonstrated strong margin improvement whilst continuing to invest in growth. In the past year Zalando has raised capital from DST, JP Morgan and Kinnevik among other investors and the company is well capitalised to fund its planned future growth.

The investment further focuses Kinnevik's new investments towards the fast growing online shoe and fashion segment. It also strengthens Kinnevik's position as a lead investor in Zalando, enabling the company to continue to focus on developing its business with a strong long-term owner.

Kinnevik will finance the acquisition with existing credit facilities. The Zalando valuation in Kinnevik's net asset value will be adjusted as per 30 September based on the transaction, which, together with other changes in fair value of unlisted online holdings, will result in an increase in assessed fair value totalling SEK 2.1bn recognized in the consolidated income statement for the third quarter.

 

As part of the transaction, Kinnevik gets an option to acquire shares for an additional up to EUR 100m in Zalando, corresponding to 3% of the shares, at the same valuation from the same sellers. If Kinnevik receives a dividend from Rocket Internet as a result of their sale of Zalando shares, Kinnevik has committed to invest this dividend in Zalando shares as part of the EUR 100m.

Mia Brunell Livfors, CEO of Kinnevik commented:

"Kinnevik first invested into Zalando in 2009 and we have followed the rapid success of the company since then. We are very pleased to be able to increase our ownership in the company and we look forward to being an active partner to the company and continue to support its development into a leading European e-commerce company."

Rubin Ritter, Managing director of Zalando commented:

"We are excited to see Kinnevik increasing its ownership in Zalando and we look forward to executing our plans with Kinnevik as a large and active shareholder. Zalando has had a fast development since the start in 2008 and given the strong growth in the first half of this year, we target to double last year's sales in 2012, making us the largest shoe and fashion e-commerce company in Europe."

Kinnevik discloses the information provided herein pursuant to the Securities Market Act (Sw. lagen om värdepappersmarknaden (2007:528)). The information was submitted for publication on 18 October, 2012 at 08.00 (CET).

For further information, visitwww.kinnevik.se or contact:

Mia Brunell Livfors, President and CEO Phone +46 (0)8 562 000 00
Torun Litzén, Director, Investor Relations Phone +46 (0)8 562 000 83
Mobile +46 (0)70 762 00 83
 

 

 

Kinnevik was founded in 1936 and thus embodies seventy-five years of entrepreneurship under the same group of principal owners. Kinnevik's objective is to increase shareholder value, primarily through net asset value growth. The company's holdings of growth companies are focused around seven comprehensive business sectors; Telecom & Services, Online, Media, Micro financing, Paper & Packaging, Agriculture and Renewable energy. Kinnevik has a long history of investing in emerging markets which has resulted in a considerable exposure to consumer sectors in these markets. Kinnevik plays an active role on the Boards of its holdings.

The Kinnevik's class A and class B shares are listed on the NASDAQ OMX Stockholm's list for large cap companies, within the financial and real estate sector. The ticker codes are KINV A and KINV B.

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Source: Kinnevik via Thomson Reuters ONE

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