EQS-News

Heliad AG: Razor Group raises USD 100m and acquires competitor Perch.

EQS-News: Heliad AG / Key word(s): Investment Heliad AG: Razor Group raises USD 100m and acquires competitor Perch. 07.03.2024 / 11:55 CET/CEST The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. Razor Group raises USD 100m and acquires competitor Perch.

 Frankfurt am Main, 7^th March 2024 - Razor Group (“Razor”), a portfolio company of Heliad AG (Stock ticker A7A, ISIN DE0001218063), has acquired its US-based E-Commerce aggregator competitor Perch in an all-stock deal and simultaneously announces a USD 100m Series D round, led by Presight Capital. The strategic transaction values the combined organization at roughly USD 1.7bn. Following the consolidation of Factory14, Valoreo, and The Stryze Group, this transaction marks an inflection point in Razor’s history, positioning the company as the global leader in its industry.

Razor's acquisition of Perch adds significant scale to its product portfolio, now managing a catalogue of over 40,000 products spanning popular categories such as Home & Living, Sports & Health, Toys and DIY, across three continents and over ten countries, paving the way for a USD 1bn top-line business in the medium-term. It also marks a pivotal shift in the aggregator business model, as Razor will leverage this acquisition to move away from the traditional aggregator model of creating the “internet version of Procter & Gamble”, towards establishing a “Western response” to Chinese consumer-to-manufacturer (C2M) players like Temu and Shein. Tushar Ahluwalia, Razor's CEO, underscores the critical role of cutting-edge technology and a deeply integrated supply chain in navigating the current macroeconomic environment to ensure agility and long-term resilience.

Simultaneously, Razor is strategically diversifying its sales avenues beyond Amazon, with the ambition to decrease its revenue dependency on the platform to below 60%. While further refining its market strategy, Razor is also venturing into Asian markets to drive geographical diversification. Combined with a focus on technological innovation and product development, Razor positions itself as the leading next-generation brand aggregator. With ongoing advancements in the fields of artificial intelligence (AI) and large language models (LLMs), further promising technological enhancements can be achieved to improve Razor’s operational efficiency.