The online fashion retailer offers branded items at discounts, such as products from the previous season.
(Photo: dpa)
Frankfurt am Main According to financial circles, the online fashion retailer BestSecret, which has grown strongly in the corona pandemic, is planning an IPO in the summer of 2022. BestSecret could do so with significantly more than three Billions of euros are valued.
Financial investor Permira has so far been the majority owner of the platform for discounted clothing from brands such as Dior, Ralph Lauren, Escada, Armani, but also Puma, Levi’s and Superdry. In the course of the planned listing, Permira wants to sell part of its 80 percent stake, said two people familiar with the matter.
The selection process for investment banks to support the new issue will begin shortly. The Frankfurt listing could take place before the summer break. Permira and BestSecret declined to comment.
The online fashion retailer offers branded items at discounts, such as products from the previous season. Customers have to become members of the shopping platform. A total of one million customers have registered so far.
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Driven by customers’ shopping trips on their home computers, the Munich-based company expects sales to increase by at least 40 percent to around 800 million euros in 2021. In terms of operating profit (Ebitda), BestSecret expects at least 135 million euros this year, an increase of around a quarter. According to financial circles, the profit could rise to over 160 million in 2022.
Ex-Zalando manager brought BestSecret more growth
Competitors already listed such as Zalando, MyTheresa and About You from Germany as well as global competitors such as Revolve, Farfetch, Bohoo, Next and Asos trade on average around 25 times the Ebitda expected for 2022. With a similar assessment, BestSecret would be worth almost four billion euros.
How much investors are willing to pay for BestSecret shares at the time of the IPO depends on how the company grows and how the competitors are rated. In addition, aspirants to the stock exchange have to be prepared for a discount for newcomers.
Permira Germany boss Jörg Rockenhäuser had described an IPO in 2022 as conceivable in the summer. Such a deal could also generate additional capital for further expansion abroad in order to make BestSecret the European market leader in “off-price fashion”.
BestSecret emerged from the fashion retailer Schustermann und Borenstein, founded in Munich in 1924. The Schustermann and Borenstein families are still minority owners. Permira took over the BestSecret parent company Schustermann & Borenstein in 2016 at a valuation of 730 million euros from financial investor Ardian.
Some of the goods are sold in four BestSecret stores in Munich, Frankfurt and Vienna, but the majority over the Internet. The Europe-wide company with 1700 employees is led by the former Zalando manager Moritz Hahn. After his commitment a year ago, the growth figures had increased significantly.
“The company helps premium fashion brands to sell on silently because of the club concept, without them having to offer their goods themselves on their own channels with discounts,” Rockenhäuser said in a newspaper interview in the summer. Many fashion companies did not want to “sell” their products in their own sales channels because they feared negative effects on image and prices, and therefore switched to specialized suppliers. BestSecret benefits from this.
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