Saudi retail group Alhokair acquires stake in UK e-commerce company VogaCloset

It is reported that the two companies will raise funds from internal resources and acquire 51% of VogaCloset's shares for 138 million Saudi riyals (about 238 million yuan).

VogaCloset is a fashion e-commerce company founded in London in 2013. Its platform products cover clothing, footwear, accessories, beauty and personal care, household products and children's products. Middle Eastern consumers are VogaCloset's main customers . As of now, it has 11 country sites , 9 of which are in the Middle East and the other two are in North Africa.

VogaCloset official website

VogaCloset's sales have increased by 70% since 2015. Due to the impact of the epidemic, it attracted 12 million customers in the Middle East last year, more than half of whom were from Saudi Arabia.

Another company that was more obviously affected by the epidemic was VogaCloset’s financial situation. Data showed that VogaCloset’s revenue in 2018 and 2019 was 158.4 million Saudi riyals and 178 million Saudi riyals (about 273 million and 307 million yuan, respectively), and it suffered losses of 240,000 and 790,000 Saudi riyals (about 410,000 and 1.36 million yuan, respectively) in the two years.

VogaCloset's financial situation in the past three years

However, VogaCloset's performance has achieved explosive growth under the epidemic, with revenue of 266.3 million Saudi riyals (about 459 million yuan) in 2020 and net profit of 10.94 million Saudi riyals (about 18.87 million yuan) last year. VogaCloset's performance "turned around" last year, which was also one of the reasons why Alhokair and Arabian Centres invested in it.

The acquisition is expected to be completed by the end of June this year. Marwan Moukarzel, CEO of Alhokair, said that the strategic investment in VogaCloset is a step for Alhokair to enter the Saudi online retail market and consolidate its market position.

Due to the impact of the epidemic, retail groups and shopping malls in the Middle East have postponed many large projects. This acquisition also marks that the two traditional Saudi retail companies will accelerate their digital transformation efforts. Alhokair said that after the acquisition is completed, VogaCloset may eventually be integrated into a joint venture between Alhokair and Arabian Centres to help the two Saudi companies build a multi-channel consumption experience for consumers and merchants.

middle East

Saudi Arabia