The United.b holding company, owner of the Boulanger, Électro Dépôt and Krëfel brands, has joined forces with Bouygues Telecom to create a group that will become the majority shareholder of Recommerce.
As the refurbished market continues to grow, companies in the sector are becoming more and more attractive. Proof of this is at the start of the year with the French start-up Recommerce, specializing in refurbished smartphones, which caught the eye of the United.b holding company, owner of the Boulanger, Électro Dépôt and Krëfel brands.
The giant United.b has joined forces with Bouygues Telecom, already a shareholder in the company since 2009, to create a group that becomes the majority shareholder, up to 66%, of this French pioneer in refurbished smartphones. The remaining 34% is held by the four founders and the employees.
Subject to the approval of the Autorité de la concurrence, the acquisition is not yet finalized, but exclusive negotiations have been initiated between the two parties, according to the magazine LSA. The financial terms were not disclosed, but the operation allows the Capza and Creadev funds, family office of the Mulliez family, which entered the company’s capital in 2018 during its round of funding of 50 million d euros, to get out.
100 million euros in turnover in 2021
Since 2009, Recommerce has been working with mobile operators and European distributors to give a second life to smartphones, as well as tablets, laptops, game consoles and connected watches. The company finds itself in competition with other players in the circular economy, such as CertiDeal, reBuy and especially Back Market, the best valued French start-up in January (5.1 billion euros) after a financing round of 450 million euros. According to LSA, Recommerce revenue grew by 40% in 2021 to reach the €100 million mark. Present in eight European countries, the company plans to launch soon in the United Kingdom.
Now linked to Boulanger’s holding company, which owns a subsidiary dedicated to refurbished products (2nd Life), Recommerce will be able to reach consumers more directly, while sales of second-hand mobiles have exceeded 2 million units (2.6 ) in 2020, which represents 14% of the smartphone market in France, according to the GfK institute. A third of French people (34%) have already bought a used phone, according to the Recommerce 2021 barometer.