Stout announced that Verdane Capital X (“Verdane”) has entered into an agreement to increase its investment to become the new majority owner of momox GmbH (“momox”). Stout served as the exclusive financial advisor to the founder of momox in this transaction.

Launched in 2004, momox is Europe’s largest re-commerce company for books, CDs, DVDs, computer/video games and clothing. The Berlin-based re-commerce company has developed into one of Germany’s top-selling digital companies with almost 20 million customers and more than 200 million articles purchased and sold over the course of its history. The company purchases used books, media, and clothing via momox.de and its app, and it distributes the purchased articles in Germany through its own online shops – medimops.de (books & media) and ubup.com (clothing) – and various online marketplaces. Momox reported a turnover of €200 million for 2018 and employs over 1,700 people at six locations in Germany and Poland, and it operates local websites in Austria, France, and the United Kingdom in addition to its German operations.

ubup.com, the company’s fashion unit, grew by close to 50% in 2018. The book and media unit, which remains momox’s core business, grew by 30% in the same period. momox-shop.fr, momox’ online shop in France, grew by 60% in 2018, providing a healthy indication of the company’s international market potential. Apart from its rapidly growing own online shops, momox is a leading partner to the world’s biggest marketplaces, such as being Amazon’s largest reseller of second-hand goods worldwide.

“Momox has built a strong brand with an attractive position to develop into a substantially larger European market leader with an expanded product assortment and geographic presence,” said Staffan Mörndal, Partner and Head of Consumer Internet at Verdane. “The re-commerce sector will continue to grow, driven by sustainability, the sharing economy, and upcycling trends as consumers look for businesses with sustainable business models. It’s an investment in a more resource-efficient future for the European consumer.”

“We are pleased to assist momox’s visionary founder Christian Wegner on this landmark transaction in the European second-hand segment,” added Mathis Wilke, Managing Director at Stout, who led the execution of the transaction. “Christian has built momox into the European category champion after pioneering the re-commerce model. Now, more than 15 years later, this truly sustainable and highly successful model is more relevant than ever.”

Stout Vice President Kevin Kissner assisted on the deal with further support from Stout’s Michael Rezajew and Nansi Nistorova.