Bricoprivé is 12 months ahead of schedule in reaching the ambitious target of €100 million in gross revenues per annum
Toulouse, 4 September 2017 – Bricoprivé, the leading website specialising in flash sales of DIY, gardening and home improvement products, today announces the acquisition of Racetools, a specialist distributor of portable electric tools to professionals. The deal was completed with the support of Bricoprivé’s minority shareholder, Ardian, the independent private investment company.
Founded in Nîmes in 2012, Racetools has established itself as the leader in portable electric tools for professionals. The company owns a major retail outlet and a 1000m² space dedicated to shipping, as well as an after-sales service counter. Over the last five years, the company has successfully formed partnerships with the largest professional tool brands across France, which has contributed to its strong growth and leading market position.
Bricoprivé.com offers a wide range of professional quality products at competitive discount prices. Since its founding in 2012, the Toulouse-based company has experienced rapid and profitable growth, with a gross revenues of more than €75 million in the last 12 months.
Over the last few years, Bricoprivé has established itself in France and southern Europe as the leader in flash sales among consumers and DIY sector customers. In line with its external growth strategy, this acquisition will strengthen its leading position in the power tool segment by giving it a foothold in the professional market.
Julien Boue, co-founder of Bricoprivé, said: “The relationship with leading brands in our sector is the fundamental pillar of Bricoprivé’s strategy. These partnerships provide access to exclusive offers in return for the media exposure and turnover we offer the brands. Racetools’ success in forging strong partnerships with professional brands which complement Bricoprivé’s existing partners was a major deciding factor for us.”
Nicolas Leron, founder of Racetools, added: “The merger with Bricoprivé takes Racetools to a new dimension. As well as expanding reach into two new countries, Spain and Italy, Bricoprivé’s infrastructure and logistical expertise will enable us to accelerate our growth and reinforce our range of products and services.”
Marc Leverger, co-founder of Bricoprivé, added: “This acquisition means we are 12 months ahead of schedule in reaching the ambitious target of €100 million in gross revenues per annum. This is crucial, since we believe that rapid development is vital to success online. The Racetools product offering complements ours well, particularly due to the company’s exposure to the professional power tool market. The technical knowledge of the Racetools teams, both in terms of products and after-sales service, will enable us to progress the business to the next level.
Furthermore, we will now have a physical retail outlet for the first time, and from the autumn, will be able to offer our partner brands access to new distribution channel.”
Romain Chuidini, Senior Investment Manager at Ardian Growth added: “This acquisition is the next step in Bricoprivé’s development. After strong organic growth and international expansion in southern Europe, the company is continuing its expansion via an active external growth strategy. This reflects the ambition expressed when we first acquired a stake in Bricoprivé of becoming the European leader in online DIY distribution.”
ABOUT BRICOPRIVÉ
Founded in October 2012 in Toulouse and managed by Julien Boue and Marc Leverger, Bricoprive.com is the leading website for flash sales of DIY, gardening and home improvement products. A major e-commerce player in the DIY sector in France, Bricoprivé organises private sales, of the main brands in the sector (Grohe, Bosch Legrand, Ryobi and Dewalt) for its five million members.
With the brands’ agreement, Bricoprivé holds nine to 10 flash sales each day of surplus stock and end-of-life products. Considered as a sales platform (three logistics platforms in France covering the entire country), the website is also an excellent communications platform for brands with its community of highly targeted members. After five years of strong growth, more than €75 million in gross revenues over the 12 last months and the recruitment of 130 staff, Bricoprivé is entering a new phase in its development with this new acquisition.
ABOUT RACETOOLS
Founded in June 2012 and managed by Nicolas Leron, Racetools has established itself as the leader in portable electric tools for professionals. Based in Nîmes, the company has a retail outlet and a 1000m² space dedicated to shipping as well as an after-sales service counter. After five years of steady development, Racetools is merging entirely into Bricoprivé.
ABOUT ARDIAN
Ardian, founded in 1996 and led by Dominique Senequier, is an independent private investment company with assets of US$62 billion managed or advised in Europe, North America and Asia. The company, which is majority-owned by its employees, keeps entrepreneurship at its heart and delivers investment performance to its global investors while fuelling growth in economies across the world. Ardian’s investment process embodies three values: excellence, loyalty and entrepreneurship.
Ardian maintains a truly global network, with more than 470 employees working through twelve offices in Beijing, Frankfurt, Jersey, London, Luxembourg, Madrid, Milan, New York, Paris, San Francisco, Singapore and Zurich. The company offers its 580 investors a diversified choice of funds covering the full range of asset classes, including Ardian Funds of Funds (primary, early secondary and secondary), Ardian Private Debt, Ardian North America Direct Buyout, Direct Funds (Ardian Mid Cap Buyout, Ardian Expansion, Ardian Growth, Ardian Co-Investment), Ardian Infrastructure, Ardian Real Estate and customized mandate solutions with Ardian Mandates.
