Vicinity Centres has announced a strategic partnership with Global Marketplace (GMP), to combine the physical footprint of Vicinity's 61 centres with GMP's eCommerce events, data and marketplace.
GMP owns shopping event Click Frenzy, marketplace Click Central and eCommerce intelligence platform Power Retail.
The new partnership will support Vicinity's growth strategy and play an important role in its expansion of its omnichannel retail presence.
The investment in GMP will connect Vicinity's 7,000 retail partners with online promotions and marketplaces to deliver shared value creation for retail partners, shoppers and securityholders.
GMP CEO Nathan Brown said the partnership aligned with the business' growth plans.
"This is an ideal strategic fit – Vicinity Centres owns and manages some of Australia’s leading physical retail destinations, and GMP offers a substantial footprint in digital commerce.
"GMP will add to Vicinity’s physical retail reach by offering established eCommerce brands, an audience of over 1.7 million online shoppers, and data and insights via Power Retail, Click Central, and two of the four biggest weeks on the Australian online retail calendar including Click Frenzy.
"Joining forces with Vicinity will facilitate GMP’s continued growth and enhance the performance of omnichannel retail in Australia and deliver some ground-breaking new initiatives for retailers and customers," he said.
In addition to its existing portfolio, GMP has also entered an agreement to acquire New Zealand-based digital marketplace GrabOne, which is expected to be complete by the end of this month.
The new partnership with Vicinity Centres sees the business acquire a minority shareholding in GMP, while Tanarra Capital – the first investor in GMP – will continue to be a substantial shareholder.
Tanarra Capital has also committed material additional capital to fund the acquisition of GrabOne, while Partners for Growth (PFG) will also provide debt finance for the GrabOne acquisition to support GMP's growth strategy.
Vicinity chief innovation and information officer Justin Mills welcomed the new partnership with GMP.
"Our investment in GMP and expansion into omnichannel retail introduces new in-store and online sales opportunities while also extending the reach of our retail partners and supplementing the 340 million visits we had to our centres in FY21.
"Investing in GMP will help facilitate online sales for our retailers and complement our broader fulfilment and distribution strategy which will provide retailers with efficient shopping centre-based fulfilment solutions and take advantage of our coast-to-coast physical footprint, with 66% of the Australian population living within 30 minutes of our doors," he said.
As part of the deal, a Vicinity representative will hold a Board position on the expanded GMP Board, joining incumbent director Anna Shave of Tanarra Capital and the recent appointments of Naomi Simson and Justin Hind.
Centres in Vicinity's portfolio include Chadstone, Chatswood Chase, Emporium Melbourne and seven DFO outlets across Australia.