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Berlin-based Zalando plans to submit a bid for the move, and About You said it would recommend that its shareholders accept the offer.
“Zalando and About You agreed to team up to better serve the needs of customers and partners through their combined and distinct… offerings,” the firms said in a joint statement.
This will “enable the combined group to cover a larger share of the European fashion and lifestyle ecommerce market,” they said.
Zalando is offering 6.50 euros a share for About You. About You’s shares surged 64% on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange to 6.40 euros following the news, while Zalando’s were down around 5%.
The deal is expected to be finalised in mid-2025, the firms said.
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The combined group would be able to “better serve the specific needs of customers and partners,” according to the statement.Brands and retailers will benefit from a unified platform with improved logistics, software and service offerings, they said.
The deal comes with European e-commerce sites increasingly worried about the explosive growth in the popularity of Chinese-founded online retailers Shein and Temu, known for offering products at low prices.
The Handelsblatt financial daily reported earlier this year that About You was seeking to mimic a strategy of the Chinese platforms by identifying new trends through artificial intelligence.
Products would then be manufactured in small quantities and delivered directly to customers from the factory, it said.
Zalando was founded in 2008 and has more than 50 million active customers in 25 European markets, with sales topping 10 billion euros last year.
About You, based in Hamburg, was founded in 2014 as a subsidiary of retailer The Otto Group, and is known for appealing to younger consumers through tie-ups with celebrities.
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