Bloom & Wild buys Dutch rival Bloomon in European expansion push

The deal quadruples the size of Bloom & Wild’s footprint in continental Europe, making it the largest online operator by volume of annual deliveries. 

Bloom & Wild said it expects the enlarged business to be profitable from the outset. It expects to exceed 8 million deliveries in 2021 and said sales for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2022, would come in “substantially north” of £200m. 

The acquisition will be financed using existing cash resources.

Bloomon, like Bloom & Wild, is a direct-to-consumer online flower-delivery business that was founded in 2014.

Headquartered in Amsterdam, the business now trades in five European countries including Germany, Belgium and Denmark.

Following the deal, Bloomon co-founder and chief executive Bart Troost will take up the new role of chief international officer at the enlarged business.

Fellow Bloomon co-founder Patrick Hurenkamp will retain his current role as chief innovation officer.

Both will report into Bloom & Wild founder Aron Gelbard, who will lead the group as chief executive.

Bloom & Wild said the acquisition would create “an end-to-end tech and data science platform that is unrivalled in the industry” and creates personalised online experiences “based on tens of millions of data points shared by over three million customers”.

Gelbard said: “With the completion of our first acquisition we have created Europe’s leading online flower delivery company. Over the past eight years we’ve grown rapidly, entirely through organic growth, into a profitable business with revenues substantially north of £100m. And now we’re excited to consolidate two leading players in the fragmented, £22bn European flower and house plant market.

“Together, we will continue to drive industry change and build on our ambitious sustainability roadmap.”

He added: “We have a shared ambition, common values and a mutual obsession with harnessing technology, supply chain innovation and outstanding bouquet design to revolutionise the customer experience.

“Our tech and data science platform, scale and investor backing makes us the natural consolidator as we continue to target rapid growth through organic and inorganic means, and further extend our European market leadership.”