About You and Zalando Aim to Become Europe's Most Relevant Fashion E-Commerce Company

Combining the complementary strengths of these two excellently positioned and established online players and the planned dual-brand strategy is expected to significantly increase their presence in European markets, according to the shareholders and Executive Board of the Otto Group. From the perspective of the Otto Group as the majority shareholder, the proposed merger offers a unique opportunity for sustainable growth and a successful future for About You.

About You was founded in 2014 as a subsidiary of the Otto Group by Tarek Müller, Sebastian Betz, and Hannes Wiese. The founding team also included Benjamin Otto, the Constitutive Shareholder of the Otto Group, who is still personally invested in the About You Group. Since 2018, About You has been managed as an investment company within the corporate portfolio and achieved the status of Hamburg's first unicorn that same year, referring to unlisted digital startups valued at over one billion US Dollars. The company has been listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange since 2021. The Otto Group holds approximately 37 percent of the shares as the majority shareholder, while about 8 percent are held by Benjamin Otto and the GFH – Gesellschaft für Handelsbeteiligungen mbH, which he controls.

The Executive Board and shareholders of the Otto Group are convinced of About You's business model. The company's development – particularly in the ongoing fiscal year 2024/25 – is very positive, as evidenced by growing revenues and a positive EBITDA in an extremely competitive market environment. However, this strong performance has unfortunately not been reflected in the stock price for years. The planned strategic transaction, aimed at creating a strong European partnership, offers significant opportunities for both online fashion retailers as well as their customers and partners. With the planned dual-brand strategy, About You and Zalando will also expand their offerings to consumers and enhance their presence in pan-European markets.

The planned merger into a leading fashion and lifestyle e-commerce player presents an excellent and reliable outlook for shareholders, partners, and employees. At the same time, the Executive Board and shareholders of the Otto Group have consciously decided against further involvement in the new company. It has been and remains important for the Otto Group to maintain relevant influence in joint ventures within its core business, which would not be possible in the new configuration.

With the potentially freed-up investment funds, the Otto Group aims to further strengthen its successful portfolio and especially advance the scaling of OTTO, its strategically relevant brands, and the financial services segment. This positions the globally operating e-commerce and service group well in a still very challenging market environment for the future.