albelli and Photobox complete merger to create leading online European Photo products & gifting business

Newly-combined company to serve over 7 million customers across Europe

LONDON and AMSTERDAM – 11 January 2022 – albelli (owned by Gilde Buy Out Partners) and Photobox (owned by Exponent), today announce that they have joined forces to create a leading player in the online European Photo Product and Gifting market. Gilde and Exponent will retain ownership of the combined business together with the management teams of both businesses.

The newly-combined company will serve a pan-European customer base of over 7 million customers, supported by 1,150 employees across the United Kingdom, Netherlands, France, Germany, Spain, Norway and Sweden. albelli and Photobox enjoy complementary business strategies and a shared focus on customer satisfaction and employee engagement. The combined business will benefit from sharing best practice knowledge, streamlining procurement and supply chain processes, and the scale of a larger group. In addition, the merger will allow both businesses to accelerate strategic initiatives to better serve customers, including its focus on mobile app.

The existing consumer brands, including Photobox and albelli, will remain, given their strength in their respective markets. Over time, customers will enjoy an increased product portfolio and improved customer experience.

A new Group Management Board has been established to govern the combined business and ensure a smooth integration process, comprising Tristan Money (CEO albelli), Dan Mucha (CEO Photobox), Leon Kerckhaert (CFO albelli) and Jon Mitchell (CFO Photobox). Tristan Money will assume the responsibility of Group CEO while Jon Mitchell will become Group CFO.

Tristan Money, CEO of the combined Group, said: “We believe this is a unique opportunity for two great companies which have a lot in common, to join forces and accelerate our customer-first strategies. I’m very excited to embark on this new chapter with Photobox and believe that together we will be able to better service our existing customers, while inspiring millions more customers to easily make beautiful photo products.”

Dan Mucha, CEO of Photobox, added: “Combining both businesses creates an opportunity to deliver the best end to end experience to more customers in Europe. By combining and building on the strengths of each company, we will be able to raise the bar on quality, ease of use and innovation.”

About albelli

albelli, headquartered in Amsterdam (the Netherlands) and employing c. 450 FTE, produces and supplies photo books and other related photo print products including wall décor, cards, calendars and prints. The company has strong market positions across the Benelux, Scandinavia as well as other European countries where it has highly recognized local brands (including albelli, bonusprint, monalbumphoto, fotoknudsen and önskefoto) and supplies high-quality photo products to millions of customers across Europe. albelli operates a vertically integrated business model, combining e-commerce with in-house printing as well as proprietary developed photo creation software. For more information, please visit www.albelli.nl.

About Photobox

Photobox, headquartered in London (United Kingdom) and employing c. 700 FTE offers a wide range of photo gifting products including photo books, calendars, canvases and wall-art, mugs, gifts, jigsaws, prints and magnets. The company has strong market positions in United Kingdom, France, Spain and Germany as well as other European markets. Photobox serves its key geographical markets through three online brands: Photobox, Hofmann & PosterXXL. The company is vertically integrated, but also collaborates with networked external factories. For more info, please visit www.photobox.co.uk.