Acquisition in leading US discount retailer FragranceNet.com underlines growth strategy
Larochette, Luxembourg – August 28, 2018
B&S Group S.A. (“B&S Group” or the “Group”), a fast-growing, global distribution partner for consumer goods, today announces its first half year 2018 results after its listing on Euronext Amsterdam on March 23, 2018.

Highlights HY 2018 (compared to HY 2017)
Overall turnover growth of 9.8% to € 767 million (14.2% on a constant currency basis1);
Organic turnover growth of 7.5% (11.9% on a constant currency basis);
Each of the business segments contributed to the turnover growth (HTG +11.4%, B&S +5.3% and Retail +8.0% at reported rates);
EBITDA amounted to € 45.9 million (€ 52.5 million on a constant currency basis);
ROCE was a solid 35.3%;
Well positioned for a strong second half year 2018.
Bert Meulman, CEO; “We are very pleased with the realised organic growth in turnover and with the results in the first half of 2018 bearing in mind the adverse development of the EUR/USD exchange rate. We are particularly pleased that our three business segments contributed to this growth individually. The underlying business and the markets in which we operate are developing positively, making us well-positioned to capture further opportunities for organic growth and to continue to expand our business.

The Group continues to be active in strategic M&A: today we announced the acquisition of FragranceNet.com, a US based online discount fragrance retailer. FragranceNet.com is an excellent fit with the B&S Group business model strengthening the Group’s buying power and assortment, and marks an important milestone in providing us with a substantial footprint in the North American online Health & Beauty market – a market that has been on our radar for a couple of years.

We continue to focus on cost leadership and on executing our strategy to grow both organically and through strategic acquisitions and look forward with confidence to the remainder of the year.”

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B&S Group reaches agreement on acquiring majority stake in US leading online discount retailer FragranceNet.com
Larochette, Luxembourg – August 28, 2018

Acquisition underlines strategy of growth and expansion along the value chain,adding over USD 200 million to the Group’s annual turnover
Transaction is expected to be earnings accretive to the Group EPS immediately after anticipated completion in Q4 2018


B&S Group S.A. (“B&S Group” or the “Group”), a fast-growing, global distribution partner for consumer goods, today announces it has reached agreement on the acquisition of a 75% stake in FragranceNet.com, Inc. (“FragranceNet.com”) through JTG, a subsidiary of the HTG business segment of B&S Group.
Strategic rationale
FragranceNet.com is an online discount fragrance retailer, established in the US in 1997 and primarily engaged in the sale of brand name perfumes to end-consumers. The company brings a powerful focus on marketing, procurement and logistics and taps into an impressively broad supplier base via its automated procurement platform. This way of working allows the company to deliver value to consumers by matching demand for discount fragrance with efficiently procured
supply.


FragranceNet.com’s proprietary technology enables B&S Group to strengthen the Group’s sourcing network, buying power and assortment in its Health & Beauty category. The acquisition allows B&S Group to generate a substantial footprint in North America for its Health & Beauty category and to roll out FragranceNet.com’s business model to other geographical areas.


Bert Meulman, CEO of B&S Group: “The acquisition of FragranceNet.com is a significant step for the Group and underlines our strategy of value chain integration, further growing in our categories and expanding to new geographies. FragranceNet.com has a strong reputation as an online discount fragrance retailer which, combined with its customer base with a high retention rate, will significantly enhance our footprint in North America and accelerate our business going
forward. By adding their knowledge and experience in online B2C retail to our distribution model we further expand our role in the value chain.
I am very pleased to be welcoming FragranceNet.com’s 250 employees and their strong management to the Group. As FragranceNet.com has been a long-standing business partner of ours, we are very familiar with both its business model and its management. This, together with our experience in gradually embedding an acquired business into our organisation, makes me confident that together we will continue to deliver the highest value to our clients and all other stakeholders.”

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