Answear.com acquires Sneakerstudio and PRM

Answear.com, one of the fastest-growing fashion and lifestyle e-commerce, which generated nearly PLN 1 billion in revenue in 2022, announced the signing of a conditional agreement to acquire Sneakerstudio and PRM brands. The first is one of the leaders in the sneaker & streetwear segment in CEE. The acquisition will be financed with Answear.com shares.

The transaction will strengthen Answear.com's position as one of the leading fashion e-commerce players operating in CEE markets, as well as the Answear brand itself in the direction of premium fashion & lifestyle, and will allow the company to expand into new segments and customer groups. The company sees great potential in the premium sneaker & streetwear segment and hopes to leverage each other's strengths by combining unique product offering with Answear’s operational excellence and technology & logistics facilities.

- We like brands that primarily stand out with unique premium streetwear & sneaker offerings. With this merger, we are expanding our business area and we have the opportunity to reach new groups of customers with dedicated product lines, including Gen Z or customers interested in premium and luxury products. All forecasts assume a dynamic growth of the premium products market, which we also believe in, and we also believe that this transaction will allow us to enter this segment even faster and develop effectively in it – comments Krzysztof Bajołek, CEO of Answear.com.

Sneakerstudio is a mature and respected lifestyle and sneaker brand among the young generation community in CEE markets. It offers products from brands such as Adidas Originals, New Balance, Carhartt and Veja. Sneakerstudio operates online stores in CEE countries, and also sells its products in Western European markets, including through a global site operated in English. The brand was born in 2015 in Cracow's Kazimierz district, where it has a stationary boutique at 55 Starowislna St., a cult destination for local fans of sneakers and street culture. PRM, on the other hand, is a new concept that is in line with current market trends and offers luxury streetwear & fashion products. Despite its early stage of development, it has already managed to attract many brands that are well-known and respected in Western Europe, such as Y-3, A.P.C., Marni, A-Cold-Wall, MISBHV and Rick Owens. Sales are made through a global online website, and the brand's boutique is located at 16 Swietokrzyska
Street in Warsaw.

- We are very pleased to join forces with such a reputable player as Answear, which has more than once proven what a well-organized company it is, as can be seen by the results it achieves. With reliable logistics and great e-commerce systems, it serves customers at the best level. I firmly believe that combining these areas, together with the unique brands we have created over the past years, will be an important step in our development and will help us to make it to the top. We have an ambitious and creative team that has the right know-how and knows how to reach customers in the niche in which our brands operate, because in many cases these are people who have always been interested in streetwear and sneakers. By combining our teams, we will not only further develop our brands, but I also hope to create added value to support Answear's strategy through the exchange of experience – says Łukasz Lepczynski, founder of Sneakerstudio and PRM brands.

Answear.com is acquiring the organised part of the enterprise from Fashion Trends Group Sp. z. o.o., which includes the Sneakerstudio and PRM e-commerce websites, as well as two stationary boutiques in Cracow and Warsaw, brand contracts and sales and marketing teams. The organised part of the enterprise will be acquired in exchanged for Answear.com shares. Under the terms of the agreement, Fashion Trends Group Sp. z o.o. is expected to receive up to 650,000 shares of Answear.com, which, at a price of PLN 29 per share, gives a transaction value of PLN 18.85 million. According to the transaction schedule, the resolution to issue the shares will be voted on at the GMS which is planned for March or April this year. In 2022. Sneakerstudio and PRM, according to preliminary sales figures, generated PLN 136 million in revenue, with break-even planned to be achieved this year.

- We know that the company has had a lot of challenges in recent times, typical of smaller scale companies operating in such unpredictable environments as these in recent months, but it has managed to survive this period and we are confident that with our support, this project will succeed in the coming years. Of course, at this stage we do not want to reveal too many details about our development plans, but we can say that we see a lot of potential in this product category and markets where Answear currently operates, as well as a lot of synergies in the product and operational areas of both businesses. We want to further develop the acquired brands, using the e-commerce and logistics solutions developed by Answear.com. Entering this segment, which usually generates higher AOV, and at the same time maintaining quality and lower unit costs of operations due to the scale that Answear has already achieved, creates a potential to achieve good sales profitability in new stores and reach new groups of customers – adds Krzysztof Bajołek.