​Fashiola and Kleding.nl acquired by Mitula Group for 11 million euros

London - Australian company Mitula Group has taken over Dutch apparel vertical search specialist Kleding BV and its sister brand Fashiola for 11 million euros.

The takeover sees Mitula paying 10 million euros in cash and 1 million worth of Mitula shares for Kleding BV. The move sees Kleding BV operating as a fully owned subsidiary of the Mitula Group, with its CEO Peter Langenkamp remaining in his role. The acquisition, which was formally announced Friday morning, also sees Mitula accelerating its shift into the fashion vertical search sector, as Kleding BV operates 16 search sites under the Kleding.nl and Fashiola brands.

Mitula Group takes over Kleding.nl and Fashiola brands

In the Netherlands, the company operates through the website Kleding.nl and abroad under Fashiola in 15 countries such as Denmark, Australia, the UK, Germany, Austria, Poland and France. The websites primarily operation in tier 1 established markets, where Mit u l a currently has a strong presence which can be leveraged to help accelerate their growth. Founded in 2000, Mitula currently runs over hundred digital marketplaces in a number of sectors, including fashion, real estate and automotive in 51 countries.

"We are very excited by the acquisition of Kleding. It immediately provides us with a strong position in fashion vertical search that we can help grow by leveraging the 80 million visits per month to our other Mitula vertical search sites," commented Gonzalo del Pozo, CEO of Mitula Group in a statement. "The fashion segment is important to us as we are keen to move from being primarily a provider of clicks to our partners to a company that is sharing more in the lucrative transaction revenue stream. The fashion segment is structured around commission sharing."

Kleding.nl first launched in the Netherlands in 2012. In 2013, the company went abroad with the formation of its sister company Fashiola. The websites aggregate over 18 million fashion-related products from 1,000 different online stores across men's and women's wear, footwear and accessories on a single platform for visitors. When visitors click on an item they are interested in purchasing, they are taken to the originating online store and these clicks out are monetised on a cost per acquisition basis. In 2016 Kleding.nl reported a turnover of 3 million euros, with a gross profit of 400,000 euros.

"We are proud of the growth of our fashion vertical sites over the past 5 years and by partnering with the Mitula Group, we will be able to rapidly accelerate that growth," said Jan-Willem Tusveld, Chairman of Kleding BV. "We look forward to working closely with Gonzalo and his team, to capture the synergies between our companies and make both Fashiola and the Mitula Group even more successful."

Photo: Kleding.nl screenshot