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Showroomprivé preparing share capital increase worth up to €10 million
French event sales website Showroomprivé will carry out a share capital increase worth between €8 million and €10 million, scheduled between now and November 30. The operation is part of the refinancing protocol approved by the website’s credit partners on May 28, and ratified by its board of directors on June 8.
The new share issue will be priced at €0.15 per share, and all shareholders will retain their preferential subscription rights.
Showroomprivé’s directors, Thierry Petit and David Dayan, who currently own a 24.25% stake in the company, said they will buy the preferential rights of the other founders (equivalent to an 8.68% stake) and of the Carrefour group (worth 20.42%). They will pay “the symbolic sum of €1 for each lot of preferential subscription rights they will buy from individual assignees.”
The decision about the share capital increase was taken at the board meeting held on April 29, and was prompted by the complex situation arising from the lockdown period in France. “[Stores that serve as pick-up points], which account for a large volume of our sales, are shut,” Petit told FashionNetwork.com in mid-March. Online apparel sales, whose trend influences Showroomprivé’s business, were slumping at the time, only to later recover and exceed pre-crisis volumes as soon as lockdown restrictions were eased.
In Q1 2020, Showroomprivé generated a revenue of €118.2 million, down from €147.3 million a year earlier. A decline to which the lockdown in March of course contributed, but for which Showroomprivé’s directors chiefly blame the strategic choices made by the company last year. Showroomprivé has indicated that sales improved in April.
Showroomprivé has recently reorganised its business, focusing on the most profitable activities. It has been gradually changing its model, replacing outright purchasing with hire purchasing and drop shipping, where labels take care of deliveries themselves. At the same time, marketing investment has been downsized, and Showroomprivé has closed down its Polish, German and multi-currency websites.
Showroomprivé has a customer base of 10 million members, and recently said it has signed new partnership deals with major groups “which operate a vast catalogue of brands,” without however giving any names.
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