2022 kicks off with a flurry of mergers and acquisitions

Less than a month into the new year, Digital Commerce 360 ​​has tracked six retail acquisitions and four vendor acquisitions so far in 2022. Last year, nearly 20 acquisitions included North American retailers in the Digital Commerce 360 ​​Top 1000 or Next 1000 as part of either the acquirer or the acquired company. But the string of retail mergers didn’t start until April, so this year’s acquisition list is already off to a fast start.

Digital Commerce 360 ​​previously reported on Fanatics Inc.’s acquisition of Topps (#36), but since then, retailers have made deals to expand into new territories, add experience services, and join larger supply chains.

Details of the other five retail acquisitions are provided below:

  • Flower retailer 1-800-Flowers.com Inc. (#67) acquired Alice’s Table on January 11th. Alice’s Table offers flower arrangements for the public or for private audiences. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, Alice’s Table offered in-person events but has now gone fully digital. For example, it now broadcasts its workshops live every day. Alice’s Table first partnered with 1-800-Flowers.com and its subsidiary Harry & David in 2020, allowing customers to order everything needed for a workshop from the company’s stores. The acquisition will allow 1-800-Flowers.com to include more of its products and brands in the live streaming workshops offered by Alice’s Table. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.
  • Also on Jan. 11, outdoor gear retailer Evo (#462) announced the acquisition of ski and snowboard retailer Rhythm Japan and winter apparel brand Oyuki to increase market penetration in Asia. Rhythm contributes to Evo’s recent entry into the gear rental business that Rhythm has long offered. Rhythm’s e-commerce team will also build locations for expansion into other areas of Asia. Both Rhythm and Oyuki will continue to operate as independent brands with their existing management teams. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.
  • Golf Club Champion acquired Canadian assembler and golf equipment seller Tour Experience Golf (#1623), also known as TXG, in another deal announced Jan. 11. The acquisition gives Club Champion access to the Canadian market. Club Champion’s business is primarily based around its custom clubs, but TXG brings some e-commerce options to the table with an online golf accessories storefront. Both brands also operate on various social channels, particularly focused on video content to engage and educate customers. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.
  • Pet products provider Worldwise acquired Furhaven Pet Products (#1821), again announced on January 11. Furhaven sells bedding, travel accessories, apparel, and other pet items directly from its e-commerce site. Worldwise owns brands that sell wholesale to retailers including SmartyKat, TrustyPup and Petlinks. Furhaven sells its own designs, so Worldwise won’t be adding any third-party brands to its offering, but this is its first foray into direct e-commerce. Worldwise is owned by private equity investment fund A&M Capital Partners. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.
  • On Jan. 14, Amazon-focused brand aggregator Thrasio announced the acquisition of India’s Livelong Online. This is the first step into India for Thrasio, which owns more than 200 brands with a focus on Amazon-based businesses. Livelong owns a variety of Indian brands that sell on Flipkart, Walmart, and Amazon, but doesn’t disclose the number of brands it operates. As part of the deal, Thrasio plans to spend $500 million to acquire new Indian brands. Thrasio has raised more than $3.4 billion to date. The exact terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Supplier Acquisition News:

  • E-commerce technology provider OSF Digital acquired retail consultancy FitForCommerce on Jan. 12. The acquisition positions FitForCommerce as the commerce strategy consulting arm of OSF Digital, helping customers leverage OSF’s various e-commerce tools. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.
  • Virtual shopping provider Salesfloor acquired personalization provider Automat on January 13. Salesfloor, which connects shoppers with in-store associates via text, live video chat and email, will integrate Automat’s artificially intelligent personalization offerings into its platform. Automat’s recommendations, conversational AI and post-purchase personalization will augment the real people using Salesfloor in-store to help retailers scale virtual visits while minimizing the strain on their existing in-store employee base. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.
  • Enterprise resource management company Nextworld acquired inventory management provider Cloud Inventory on Jan. 13. Nextworld will add Cloud Inventory’s tools to its suite of enterprise applications and natively integrate inventory visibility with other tools for greater visibility into spend, revenue estimates, and long-term planning. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.
  • E-commerce fraud protection provider ClearSale acquired software consulting firm Beta Learning for $7 million on Jan. 19. More than 100 Beta Learning employees will join the ClearSale team and help the fraud preventer continue to grow its business following its IPO in 2021. ClearSale has been a Beta Learning customer since 2019.

Darling

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