Local online retailer Grays is now the largest e-commerce business in Australia, following its acquisition of South African-owned retail website OO.com.au.
The deal, finalised this week, includes the OO brand, website, its large 'buy now' customer database and staff expertise.
In addition, the takeover is set to boost company turnover for Grays to more than $350 million and will see the etailer inherit a customer database of over three million people.
Commenting on the takeover, Grays confirmed OO's current CEO Rolf Krecklenberg will continue to manage the OO business.
However, OO warehousing and staff will relocate from their 9000 square metre Rosebery site to Grays 30,000 square metre headquarters at Homebush over the next three to six months.
Grays CEO Cameron Poolman added that the merge will result in greater efficiencies as both companies will share the same infrastructure.
He also said the future plans are for the retention of the OO brand, expansion of range within existing categories as well as the introduction of new categories and additional investment in the website.
“Both businesses have been leaders in the online retail space for over nine years, and have profitably operated on proven business models. The incremental $50m from OO will take Grays company turnover to more than $350 million, making it a major retailer in the Australian market place. Importantly, the extra scale provided by this acquisition will ensure our ongoing profitability using a sustainable business model,” Poolman said.
Krecklenberg agreed and said the deal will also boost the Grays product offering and put the company in a stronger position to capitalise on the increasing growth of online shopping.
“This is a wonderful opportunity for OO staff and our customers to join the Grays group. I am looking forward to expanding our range, entering new categories and leveraging the Grays infrastructure so that we can offer our customers even better value. We have an exciting future ahead and we look forward to remaining at the forefront of online retail in Australia,” he said.
GraysOnline is an Australian online retail and auction company established in 1988, which offers a range of consumer, industrial and commercial goods direct from manufacturers and distributors. The site offers branded products across more than 80 categories, from wine, jewellery, home & garden, and computers & electronics to cars, forklifts, trucks and mining equipment. The company sells more than 120,000 items every month via auction and fixed price format.
OO.com.au has been selling items at highly discounted prices since January 2002 and in mid 2004 became an online retailer of these products, with the launch of the website. The site offers over 30,000 products, from a range of top international and local brands, at up to 80 per cent off retail prices.