The acquisition involves a 50.3% stake in Launchmetrics, for a sum of around 85 million dollars (77.7 million euros), which is based on Launchmetrics’ sales and Ebitda in its 2023 financial year.The remainder of the share capital and voting rights will be acquired via annual transactions between 2025 and 2028, as well as in 2030.

Bpifrance will remain a shareholder until 2027. The total value of the transaction is expected to reach 200 to 240 million dollars, based on double-digit growth over the period.Specialising in brand performance, Launchmetrics offers Saas (software as a service) solutions to support the communication and marketing activities of fashion, lifestyle and beauty companies. The company employs over 450 people in 12 markets worldwide, and operates in 5 languages.With sales of some €45 million, Launchmetrics has 1,700 customers in around twenty countries. These include Tiffany’s, Vogue, KCD, Shiseido, The North Face, Levi’s, IMG, the Italian Fashion Chamber and the Federation of Haute Couture and Fashion.Lectra’s press release states that the acquisition takes place against a backdrop of growing importance of artificial intelligence, in which Launchmetrics has invested, as well as the development of multi-channel commerce, the transformation of purchasing behaviour, and changes in socio-environmental rules.

“The combination of our existing solutions and those of Launchmetrics positions the group as the only technology player to support its customers from product development to production, and then from collection management to marketing, e-commerce and traceability,” boasts Lectra CEO Daniel Harari.”After seven acquisitions in the last six years, this new strategic step allows Lectra to continue pushing the boundaries by defining a new framework for Industry 4.0 in the fashion market.”A specialist in machinery and software for the soft materials industry, since 2017 Lectra has been developing an Industry 4.0-focused offering linking machines and creative tools throughout the supply chain. In particular, the marketing data aggregated by Launchmetrics should enable Lectra’s customers to organise their campaigns and maximise their return on investment. “The alliance between Launchmetrics and Lectra will enable us to enrich our respective offerings with more artificial intelligence and complementary data – product and marketing – in order to offer a unique value proposition to our customers,” said Michael Jaïs, CEO of Launchmetrics. In December 2022, Lectra acquired the Dutch company TextileGenesis, which offers brands a platform for tracking sustainable materials, from the fibre to the end customer.In the first nine months of the 2023 financial year, Lectra posted revenues of €358.2 million, down 7%, mainly due to the negative impact of exchange rates.