Wirtualna Polska has acquired approx. 44.5% shares in Selsey. It is one of the leading online stores in Poland selling products in the "home and garden" category. The transaction value was nearly PLN 33 million.
Selsey is one of the largest e-commerce stores in Poland. It offers furniture, home furnishings, decorations and garden accessories. The company has been operating in Poland for almost 10 years, selling its products also in many European countries, including France, Germany, the UK and Italy.
"In Poland alone, the market in the "home and garden" category is worth approx. 40 billion zlotys. More than 20% of this figure is spent online, making it one of the largest categories in online shopping, with a higher share than in most countries in Western Europe. For Wirtualna Polska, it is also an investment in a part of the e-commerce market that is still new to us, one where we physically sell products. As a minority investor, we gain the opportunity to acquire from Selsey’s founder the logistical and operational competencies that are new to us" says Aleksander Kusz, VP E-commerce at Wirtualna Polska Holding S.A.
"Selsey is already synonymous with beautiful furniture at very attractive prices. However, attracting such a large and stable investor opens up entirely new opportunities for the company. It allows us to develop technologically, but also to carry out acquisition plans and expand our furniture collections. We can also invite more manufacturers and business partners to cooperate, increasing the attractiveness of our offer to users even further" says Mirosław Mikołajczak, the owner and founder of Selsey.
As part of the transaction, Wirtualna Polska will acquire a stake in Selsey, recapitalize the company and contribute 100% of Homebook's shares in kind. The total transaction value was nearly PLN 33 million.
After the closing, the Homebook and Selsey teams will be merged, and Patryk Dżus, Homebook's former CEO, will join the Selsey management team.
"The goal of the merger of Selsey and Homebook is to combine the best of both companies. On the one hand, Homebook brings marketing and technological competence, through which it has been inspiring Poles how to furnish the interiors of their homes for years. On the other hand, we have the product, logistics and operational facilities provided by Selsey. I am glad that our teams will be able to work together while remaining part of the Wirtualna Polska family. The merger of the companies means new development opportunities not only for the entire organization, but also for individual employees" says Patryk Dżus, President of the Management Board of Homebook.
The transaction will take place once the conditions precedent have been met, in particular once the approval of the President of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection is obtained.
Selsey is a company founded in Wrocław in 2013. Its online store offers more than 20,000 different products and employs more than 170 people. In addition to the online store, the company operates two stationary showrooms - in Warsaw and Wrocław. For the 2021/2022 financial year ending in June 2022, Selsey reported approx. PLN 118 million in revenue.