Rocket Internet et al. sell Glossybox to PE-backed Hut Group

Rocket Internet was the largest shareholder prior to the transaction with 57.5% of the shares, followed by Kinnevik with 23.8%. DVH Ventures also held a stake of around 5% through its fourth fund HV Holtzbrinck Ventures Fund IV LP, a €177m vehicle that closed in April 2010.

The acquirer plans to use its e-commerce platform to advertise Glossybox to a larger customer base. It will join THG's existing beauty subscription brands Beauty Box, MyGeekBox and PopInABox.

Glossybox generated a turnover of €8.84m but made a net loss of €1.37m in 2015, according to publicly available documents.

THG is owned by a consortium of PE backers including KKR, Balderton Capital, Blackrock and Sofina, while the company's owners and employees also retain significant stakes. The company generated £87.5m in EBITDA from £501m in sales in 2016.

Previous funding
Rocket Internet provided seed funding for Glossbox in February 2011.

In May 2011, Rocket Internet, Kinnevik and Holtzbrinck Ventures invested an undisclosed amount in the company's first institutional round of funding.

Company
Established in 2011, Glossybox is an online beauty product retailer that operates on a subscription model. The company is based in Berlin but has operations in 10 markets and additional offices in the UK, France, Sweden and the US. The startup generated a turnover of €8.84m but made a net loss of €1.37m in 2015.

People
Glossybox – Caren Genthner-Kappesz (CEO).

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