PKF advise Bloom & Wild on second international acquisition

PKF has advised Bloom & Wild on a second international acquisition, as the UK’s leading online flower and gifting platform continues to grow its European footprint.

Bloom & Wild has acquired leading French online florist Very Bloom SAS, which trades as Bergamotte, for an undisclosed sum. The acquisition more than quadruples the size of Bloom & Wild’s French business overnight and secures a top 5 leading position in the country’s online flower delivery market. Bergamotte has also recently expanded into Germany, further strengthening Bloom & Wild’s footprint and expertise in this important market. The deal consolidates Bloom & Wild’s position in the growing £22 billion European flower and house plant market, that is transitioning online.

Members of PKF International network of accountancy firms provided a full suite of buyside support services for Bloom & Wild, led by Sam Phillips, Transaction Services Director at PKF Francis Clark in Bristol, and Vanessa Raindre, tax lawyer at PKF MD Legal in Paris.

It comes after Bloom & Wild acquired Netherlands-based Bloomon earlier this year, in a deal also supported by PKF.

Like Bloom & Wild, Bergamotte is a direct to consumer online flower and plant business that was founded by Romain Raffard and Loïc Reperant in December 2015. Fast growing and with a strong brand following in France, Bergamotte runs a team of some 80 out of Paris, Amsterdam and Berlin.

In addition to one-off gifting and flower subscriptions, Bergamotte has a well-developed plant range, which includes large indoor and outdoor plants, and this year also began offering outdoor furniture. There are substantial synergies to be realised from Bergamotte’s insights, expertise and supplier relationships in the plant market. The deal will more than double Bloom & Wild’s plant revenue across Europe and the expertise gained will act as a springboard to accelerate growth in this important market segment, which makes up just under one third of the combined flower and plant market. From a marketing perspective, Bergamotte uses pop-up stores as an important feature of its brand building strategy, which will provide interesting fresh opportunities for the wider business.

Under the terms of the deal, the Group will invest behind the Bloom & Wild, Bergamotte and recently acquired bloomon brands as it accelerates its European growth strategy. Sitting behind the consumer-facing brands will be an updated, singular, integrated technology, data science, logistics and marketing platform that reflects the most advanced elements of all three businesses.  This will provide the Group with the most sophisticated, scaled technology and data science capability in the industry, ensuring efficiency of operations, optimised marketing and an unrivalled customer experience.

Sam Phillips said:

“This is an exciting deal which cements Bloom & Wild’s position as the biggest online operator in Europe’s flower and house plant market.

“We are delighted to have assisted the management team with another high-profile cross-border acquisition, delivering financial and taxation due diligence, completion mechanism and sale and purchase agreement (SPA) advisory support in collaboration with our colleagues in the PKF International network.

“We look forward to seeing Bloom & Wild reap the benefits of its acquisitive strategy as more and more customers across Europe embrace online flower gifting.”

Sophia Meadows, finance director at Bloom & Wild, said:

We were delighted to have the opportunity to work with PKF again on the purchase of Bergamotte. As ever, the team provided invaluable support across two countries working to tight deadlines. We would not hesitate to work with PKF again in the future.

Aron Gelbard, CEO and co-founder of Bloom & Wild, said:

“We are rapidly extending our leadership of the European online flower and house plant market through the combination of strong organic growth and selective acquisitions. As markets continue their online transition, Bloom & Wild is best placed to capture this growth, given our expanding product range and the sophistication of our technology, data and marketing capabilities, in what is a growing £22 billion European market opportunity.  Our enlarged business has a wealth of international talent, deep seated ambition and unrivalled scale, underpinned by strong investor backing. We will continue to build a profitable business that puts delivering for our customers, contributing to our communities and reducing our impact on the planet at its heart.”

The PKF International network is made up of 220 independent accountancy firms in 150 countries.

More information can be found at pkf.com.

PKF Francis Clark’s team comprised Sam Phillips, Paul Crocker and Matt Pearce.