Private equity investor Mid Europa Partners (Mid Europa) has completed the acquisition of shares in Pigu Group and Hobby Hall Group OÜ (HHG), forming one group, becoming the leading online trading center in Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. and Finland.
The combined group has become the largest e-commerce player in the Baltics.
The group has united several million registered customers in four countries – Pigu.lt in Lithuania, Kaup24.ee and Hansapost.ee in Estonia, 220.lv and Xnet.lv in Latvia and Hobbyhall.fi in Finland.
3 thousand Baltic sellers sell more than 1.5 million items in the largest part of the new company’s e-platform – “Pigu Group”, with customers visiting the platform more than 100 million times a year. Following the merger with the largest online store managed by Hobby Hall OU, the number of products sold on the common e-platform will increase by more than 2 million, and the number of visitors will reach almost 145 million per year.
“The pandemic period has accelerated the change in shoppers’ shopping habits, and e-shopping has become the norm. With the merger, establishing the most significant e-commerce and marketplace platform in the Baltics, we aim to invest and develop in the future, also facilitating the entry of innovations into our ecosystem, ”says Kerim Turkmen, Mid Europa partner.
According to Dainius Liulys, CEO of the new Group and Pigu, after the successful completion of the transaction, the integration process of various e-platforms belonging to the Group will be launched.
“This is a significant achievement in the history of our online shopping center, as we move into a new league. We will continue to take care of sustainable development and work to create an e-commerce ecosystem. We will ensure that the growing number of all participants of the e-shopping center – both buyers and sellers – can use all the opportunities offered by e-shopping even more smoothly and conveniently, ”emphasizes Daiņi Ļuļis.
He points out that combining different online platforms is good news for all members of online shopping centers.
“With the growth of the shopping center on the Internet, the scope of activity will increase significantly, thus buyers will have an even greater choice of goods. It should be emphasized that investments in technical infrastructure will also grow, which will significantly improve the customers’ online shopping experience, ”emphasizes D.Luļis.
According to him, the biggest advantage for sellers is the expansion of the geographical boundaries of trade, given the merging of different e-platforms. “Now the goods will also be available in the Finnish market, which is four times larger than all the Baltic countries combined. We will offer goods in a significantly larger flow of buyers, which will undoubtedly also affect sales volumes, ”informs D. Ļuļis.
D. Ļuļis emphasizes that the combination of all these factors will ensure an otherwise difficult result in trade – to offer the widest assortment, the fastest delivery and better prices. “Over the next three years, we will offer all these components to our customers in Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Finland,” adds D. Lulis.
Mid Europa signed an agreement with Pigu and its shareholder MCI Group (MCI) to merge Pigu with Estonian HHG in March this year.
Mid Europa has become the main shareholder in the joint venture, and the founders of MCI, Pigu and HHG, are the remaining shareholders, retaining significant shares in the joint venture.
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