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eBay announced its plans to acquire Depop from Etsy in February. The deal is valued at about $1.2 billion, according to Reuters. The American marketplace hopes the acquisition will strengthen its position in the fast-growing secondhand clothing market and attract a younger audience.
Last month, the CMA launched a formal review of the deal, inviting market participants to share their assessments of the merger’s potential impact on competition in the UK. Following a preliminary investigation, the regulator decided not to refer the deal to an in-depth second-phase review.
This means that the UK authority did not find sufficient grounds to further investigate the deal’s potential negative impact on the competitive landscape.
Founded in the UK in 2011, Depop has become one of the most popular platforms for buying and selling clothing among Generation Z. Etsy acquired the service in 2021 for approximately $1.6 billion, seeking to expand its presence in the sustainable fashion and secondhand goods segments.
For eBay, the acquisition of Depop is part of a strategy to modernize its platform and strengthen its position among young shoppers. The company plans to combine its e-commerce infrastructure with Depop’s audience, which is focused on vintage clothing, personal style, and conscious consumption.
Once the deal is complete, eBay will gain control of one of the leading platforms in the fashion resale segment, which has become one of the fastest-growing areas of online commerce in recent years.
