Vente-Privée, the world’s largest website for private sales, has obtained a majority stake in French wine web shop Le Petit Ballon, which sells 1 million bottles every year through a subscription service.
60,000 subscribers, 8 million euro turnover
Le Petit Ballon, founded in France in 2011, currently has 60,000 subscribers and 8 million euro in turnover. It not only ships to France, but also to Belgium and the United Kingdom. The webshop also has a physical store in Paris. Vente-Privée has paid an undisclosed sum to become a majority shareholder, but it is not clear how large its stake currently is.
Vente-Privée has been part of the wine industry for a while now: it sells five million bottles every year, about 5 % of its turnover. Le Petit Ballon will continue to operate independently but will be able to take full advantage of Vente-Privée’s logistics, which handles 180,000 packages in thirteen European warehouses (including seven in France) every single day.
eCommerce giant
Vente-Privée has thirty million members and 4.5 million unique visitors per day in France alone. Over the past three years, it became the global market leader with a three billion euro turnover, thanks to several acquisitions (including Benelux-based Vente-exclusive in 2015, Danish Designers & Friends in May 2016 and Polish Zlotewyprzedaze in November 2016). Its organic growth reached 20 % last year, but including those acquisitions, it surged an incredible 50 %.
The group, active in fourteen countries, will focus entirely on consolidation and integrations this year. It will also invest eighty million euro in Research & Development and innovation.
