news

Advance Capital is pleased to announce the sale of the Russian business of Westwing Group, a German publicly listed company operating an online furniture and home decor platform, to the private equity fund Elbrus Capital.

Westwing Group was founded in 2011 and operates online furniture and home décor platforms in Germany, France, Spain, Italy and seven other European countries. In 2017, the company reported revenues of over €220 million. In October 2018, Westwing Group completed an IPO on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.

Westwing Russia operates in Russia and Kazakhstan and is one of the leading players in the Russian online furniture and home décor market, with revenues of approximately RUB 1 billion in 2017. Westwing’s business model is based on the flash sales concept, involving regular curated offers distributed to subscribers. This model allows the company to optimize working capital while offering customers access to a wide and frequently refreshed product assortment.

Elbrus Capital is one of the leading private equity funds in Russia and the CIS. The fund focuses on investments in fast-growing companies with strong potential for market share expansion. Elbrus Capital has previously invested in a number of companies in the e-commerce and digitalization sectors, including Chefmarket and Busfor.

As a result of this deal, Elbrus Capital significantly strengthened its position in the Russian online retail market.

Grigory Gorelik, Managing Director at Westwing Russia:

“Our model is built around a members-only assortment that is constantly updated. We plan to preserve this concept while also launching a permanent assortment available beyond the Westwing membership base.”

Dmitry Kasyanenko, Partner and Managing Director at Advance Capital:

“In recent years, we have observed growing interest from financial investors in the Russian e-commerce sector, driven by relatively low penetration compared to other emerging and developed markets. The acquisition of Westwing Group’s Russian business by Elbrus Capital is, in our view, a clear confirmation of this trend.”

Advance Capital acted as the exclusive financial advisor to Westwing Group.

The deal value is not disclosed.