Company Name
PLNTS
Website
https://plnts.com/en
Transaction
Buy-side
Types
Strategic
Sector
E-commerce
Market
International
PLNTS experiences explosive growth through ambitious buy-and-build strategy
There certainly was an ambition to grow, but achieving this growth through acquisitions was not PLNTS owner Jesse Mostert’s first thought. “That option only materialised after Marktlink planted the seed”, he explains. It resulted in the acquisition of 123Planten in late 2022, and recently Herbie’s label Bloomique also joined the group. “We want to further expand the platform and share our love for plants with more people.”
Initially, the entrepreneurs had a different reason for contacting Marktlink than to explore a buy-and-build strategy, the process which has since started. “We wanted to see if it was possible to acquire the American company Plants.com; because the names are so similar we were afraid confusion would arise. We thought it best to enter into this process together with a specialist and Google brought us to Marktlink. Jeffrey Scholtens dived in; he found out that Plants.com was a listed company and invited us to look into other options for growth together.”
Highly fragmented market
In a highly fragmented market, it was not an option for PLNTS to join a larger party. “The support from the plant nursery, run by my father and three brothers, is what strengthens our position,” says the youngest member of the family. “Our online activities are just as valuable as the nursery, though smaller webshops sometimes have to work just a bit harder to stay afloat. For those entrepreneurs, joining a larger group often means peace of mind and new opportunities to develop.”
In a short space of time, this strategy led to two acquisitions for PLNTS, which strengthened the online plant platform’s position in the top 5. “It is quite extraordinary how all of this is going”, Jesse Mostert realises. “The Marktlink dealteam mapped out the market for us, after which we simply started meeting potential e-commerce companies. This also helped us to discover what type of company matches our growth strategy best. A company that complements the entire group, with enough distinctive value and positioning is a definite plus.”
Chosen growth strategy
For the most recent acquisition of Herbie and the label Bloomique, that distinctive value can be found in the e-fulfilment for retailers and webshops. “This company has a strong position on marketplaces like Bol.com and Amazon; for us, that’s an entirely new market”, says Jesse Mostert. “Without Marktlink, we would have never chosen this growth strategy. Not only has the dealteam helped us immensely with contacting the right candidates, but they also helped us to climb the mountain, step by step.”
The mountain peak is far from being reached. While the coming period Jesse will be busy with the internal organisation after this acquisition and the recently acquired 123Planten, M&A specialist Jeffrey Scholtens will keep his eyes peeled. “The entrepreneurial passion at PLNTS is like no other. After the first contact in late 2021, we became convinced of the growth opportunities through this buy-and-build strategy. And with the right drive and the entrepreneurs’ open minds, I see many more successful transactions in the coming years.”
