Allegro to acquire Agito

2011-12-20



Grupa Allegro, the owner of the Allegro.pl online auction site, is to acquire a 90% stake in Agito, the owner of Agito.pl, one of the largest internet stores in Poland. Allegro submitted an application for approval of the take over to the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection (UOKiK). The value of the transaction has not been disclosed.
According to CEO of Agito Tomasz Sypula, the deal will allow Agito.pl to develop faster within changing market conditions. Meanwhile, CEO of Allegro Grzegorz Wojcik said that his company sees huge potential in Agito.pl and wants to offer its clients a wider assortment through the deal.
Mr Wojcik added that Amazon and Tesco are just around the corner in Poland so Allegro is preparing for tough competition. Media Markt is also preparing a larger online project. Small and mid-sized stores that Allegro services through its Ceneo.pl price comparison site may be negatively affected by such moves. Agito is to give them a chance to increase revenues through the support of a strong brand, he said.
Agito was taken over by the Dutch Garma fund in September 2011. The latter paid Agito’s former main shareholder Centrozap $6-10m (€4.6-7.7m) for a 55% stake and the Secus FIZ fund received $1.2m (€923,000). Agito’s CEO also received an undisclosed amount.
Agito.pl offers over 50,000 products in 10 departments, mainly electronics.