Reconomy buys technology platform ReBOUND

The deal marks an exit for investor BGF, which backed ReBOUND in October 2018 to accelerate the company’s growth

Telford-headquartered ReBOUND, the technology platform which supports retailers – such as ASOS, Gymshark, Missguided, JD Sports and Sweaty Betty – to manage their returns sustainably, has been sold to Telford firm Reconomy.

The deal marks an exit for investor BGF, which backed ReBOUND in October 2018 to accelerate the company’s growth. In this period, annual sales rose by 130% and the returns management platform secured many of the UK’s most successful fashion brands as customers. The business has been ranked in Sunday Times Fast Track leagues three times with its first entry into the Tech Track 100 as the tenth fastest growing tech business in the UK in 2019.

ReBOUND’s technology, supply chain expertise and data-led approach allows brands to understand what’s being sent back to them, why, and what to do with inbound items. The company specialises in working with fashion brands to offset the environmental impact of packaging, shipping and processing returns, helping brands calculate the most carbon-efficient routes, eliminate wasted transport miles and recycle goods, wherever possible.

Graham Best, ReBOUND Founder & CEO, said: We’d already experienced fast growth when we first met BGF, but we had big ambitions to accelerate this by working with more retailers to tackle the challenge of managing returns and help them recognise the value of their returns data.

BGF brought the perfect combination of a long-term, investment approach and expertise of scaling up businesses like ours. The partnership has allowed us to position ReBOUND for our next phase of growth more quickly than we anticipated, he said.

The deal marks BGF’s fifth exit in the Midlands in the past six months, generating significant returns for all shareholders. The deals included: BGF’s exit of Nottingham life sciences incubation business, BioCity last month, following exits from CHS Healthcare, Olive Communications and Chase Distillery, which was acquired by Diageo at the end of last year.

ReBOUND will continue to operate under its own name while collaborating closely across the Reconomy Group. ReBOUND joins the likes of Valpak, the UK’s largest packaging compliance scheme and data insight provider, and Munich-based Reverse Logistics Group (RLG), a firm also specialising in environmental compliance and after-market services internationally.

Paul Cox, Reconomy CEO, added: Adding ReBOUND to the Reconomy Group is a very exciting development and we extend a warm welcome to the whole team. Their innovative approach, underpinned by great technology and a focus on providing an excellent user experience, makes for a perfect fit with Reconomy.

He said ReBOUND’s expertise, combined with the Reconomy Group’s existing returns activity, will offer clear, unique benefits to our customers as we continue to build an unrivalled set of services to help drive the circular economy on the global stage.