Amazon to Acquire Online Retailer BuyVip
Amazon.com Inc. has reached an agreement to buy the Spanish internet retailer BuyVip for around €70 million ($96.5 million), a person close to the matter said Monday, as the company seeks to break into premium online retail.
The deal will be announced this week, the person added. BuyVip offers overstock items from brands like Dolce & Gabbana, Louis Vuitton or Levi’s for steep discounts. The company doesn’t buy the stock itself but acts as a broker between fashion brands and consumers using its marketing and online-distribution channels. “BuyVip has huge growth potential. After sales of €60 million in 2009 the company now expects sales of over €130 million,” the person close to the sale process said.
BuyVip is owned mainly by a consortium of private-equity companies including Cipio Partners, Kennet Partners, Spanish fund Debaeque and the venture-capital arm of German media conglomerate Bertelsmann AG. Amazon ( (AMZN)) wasn’t immediately available for comment.
