Scalpers freezes its sale. After the 70 % owners of the company, Jaime Bergel and Pedro Sainz de Baranda, entrusted the investment bank Arcano with the operation at the beginning of the year, they have decided to put the process on hold due to the global economic uncertainty.
The aforementioned bank had been preparing the sale booklet to present it to potential buyers, but has finally decided to put the operation on hold, as reported by the newspaper El Confidencial.
Among the reasons are the economic instability derived from the last blows of the pandemic and the war in Ukraine, which is directly affecting consumption and which can be measured through indicators such as inflation, the downward forecast of the GDP and the increase in production and logistics costs.
Before the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, and in a more favorable economic context, the main owners of Scalpers opted to consider the sale of the company, which closed 2021 with an Ebitda of 16 million euros and a 50% growth in the last fiscal year to 110 million euros of turnover. With this trajectory, the company would place its valuation at 160 million euros, although the selling price of the shareholders would be around 200 million euros, according to the aforementioned media.
Born in Seville in 2007, Scalpers is 70% owned by Jaime Bergel and Pedro Sainz de Baranda since 2017. The investors had entered the capital in 2014, but it was not until then that they acquired their stake from three of the founding partners, Alberto Artacho, Marcos Ybarra and Laura Vecino, wife of Rafael Medina, who had become part of the Inditex group (and currently works for WOW, the commercial project of Dimas Gimeno).
Another 20% of the shareholding is in the hands of Borja Vázquez and Alfonso Vivancos, also co-founders of the company, who act as first spades. The remaining 10 % is owned by Phoenix Group together with minority partners.
The Scalpers group includes not only the eponymous firm, but also the footwear brand Mim Shoes and the Victoria ceremonial fashion brand. In addition, in 2018 it acquired a majority stake in Jorge Vázquez.
Beyond its sales, the Scalpers brand continues to gain ground: so far this year it has installed a flagship store of its women’s line on Claudio Coello Street in Madrid and has sealed its entry into Chile. In total, it has 250 points of sale (including its own stores and corners in El Corte Inglés and El Palacio de Hierro) in six countries and directly employs 1,300 people.
