Home24 takes over Butlers

One is strong online, the other in German city centers. Now they are combining their offerings: Home24 is buying the Butlers chain.

Home24 has just been kicked out of the SDAX, now the company is taking the plunge and buying the Butlers retail chain. Home24 is thus taking over Butlers' 130 stores in eleven countries, where household goods, gift items and home decorations are sold. In future, Home24's online offering will also be integrated into the stores; the company already operates ten showrooms.

The purchase price is fixed at 65 percent and amounts to 38 million euros, with part of the debt already offset. The remaining 35 percent is tied to a profit target and will also be offset against debt. Home24 is paying part of the purchase price with its own shares, which means that Butlers CEO Wilhelm Josten will hold 3.9 percent of the online furniture retailer in future.

Butlers has been in existence since 1999 and currently employs 1,000 people. 100 of Butlers' stores are located in Germany and the company generates 25 percent of its sales online. Following the acquisition, the company will remain in Cologne and the management team will also remain in place.

"The Butlers and home24 product ranges complement each other perfectly," says Marc Appelhoff, CEO of Home24. "The Butlers stores in attractive city locations multiply our personal contact opportunities with customers and increase our independence from online marketing. At the same time, we are strengthening our respective online offering." Appelhoff is aiming for an "estimated total turnover of around 700 million euros in 2021".

Founded in 2009, Home24 currently has 1,900 employees and is primarily active in Europe and Latin America. The company went public in 2018 and benefited from the coronavirus pandemic in 2020. It was only at the beginning of the month that it was kicked out of the SDAX due to poor figures.