ATTRAQT Group plc has conditionally agreed to acquire European onsite search, navigation and merchandising software provider Fredhopper, for £25m. The move will create what the firm calls a global ‘go-to’ e-commerce visual merchandising company. Fredhopper serves approximately 130 major international retail clients, while online visual merchandising company ATTRAQT’s portfolio includes boohoo.com, Matches Fashion, Moss Bros, […]
ATTRAQT Group plc has conditionally agreed to acquire European onsite search, navigation and merchandising software provider Fredhopper, for £25m.
The move will create what the firm calls a global ‘go-to’ e-commerce visual merchandising company.
Fredhopper serves approximately 130 major international retail clients, while online visual merchandising company ATTRAQT’s portfolio includes boohoo.com, Matches Fashion, Moss Bros, Russell and Bromley, Superdry, The North Face and Timberland. As a combined business the new company will have over 250 customers.
The deal, which is subject to shareholder approval, will see a significant expansion of client bases for Fredhopper and ATTRAQT, and will give the combined company a growing presence in the UK, US, continental Europe and Asia Pacific.
Headquartered in Amsterdam, Fredhopper has additional offices in the UK and Bulgaria, with customers in all key European e-commerce regions. ATTRAQT is headquartered in the UK and has a regional office in Chicago. The combined group will use its footprint in the US and Continental Europe to further expand global operations.
“I am delighted to be announcing this transformational deal for the company. The acquisition is a significant step and immediately establishes the new group as the clear global leader in online visual merchandising. As a combined business, we will bring together the very best solutions available in the market to become the go-to company for all visual merchandising needs,” said Andre Brown, CEO and Founder of ATTRAQT Group plc. “This transaction has been driven by the growth potential available to the combined business and has been backed by a group of leading UK technology investors who share our vision and ambitious growth plans. In the short term the two businesses will continue to be run relatively independently, to ensure a considered and thoughtful integration.”
ATTRAQT and Fredhopper, the directors believe, are currently the only two companies that provide site search, visual merchandising and personalisation in one integrated platform for the retail industry. Each has different strengths within its platform. Fredhopper has long-standing experience in site search, has developed advanced personalisation capabilities and built a cloud delivery platform for global implementations. ATTRAQT provides intuitive administration, AB testing and reporting.
Fredhopper’s current owner is global content management and language solutions provider SDL.
“We are pleased that Fredhopper is to be acquired by ATTRAQT Group plc,” said Adolfo Hernandez, CEO at SDL. “The combination of both businesses will provide customers with a powerful proposition to solve their complex visual merchandising challenges. We part on excellent terms and wish the team well for their future.”
Following the announcement ATTRAQT shares are now suspended until re-admission on to the AIM market, which is expected to take place on 1 March 2017.
www.fredhopper.com
http://attraqt.com
