Vicinity Centres and Click Frenzy owner, Global Marketplace, announce new strategic partnership

Global Marketplace (GMP) and Vicinity Centres (Vicinity), have today announced a strategic partnership combining the national physical footprint of Vicinity’s 61 retail destinations with leading e-commerce events, data and marketplace owner GMP.

Owner of Click Frenzy, Click Central, and Power Retail, GMP’s partnership with Vicinity will support its growth aspiration and play an important role in Vicinity’s expansion of its omnichannel retail presence. GMP has also entered into an agreement for the acquisition of New Zealand based GrabOne, which is expected to complete by the end of October.

The strategic investment in GMP advances Vicinity’s expertise in omnichannel retail, connecting its 7,000 retail partners, with online promotions and marketplaces to deliver shared value creation for retail partners, shoppers and securityholders.

“Investing in GMP will help facilitate online sales for our retailers and complement our broader fulfilment and distribution strategy which will provide retailers with efficient shopping centre-based fulfilment solutions and take advantage of our coast-to-coast physical footprint, with 66% of the Australian population living within 30 minutes of our doors.”

The partnership sees Vicinity Centres acquire a minority shareholding in Global Marketplace, with a strategic alliance agreement intended to create mutual value for both businesses and benefit the overall retail sector. Tanarra Capital, who first invested in GMP in 2016, continues to be a substantial shareholder and has committed material additional capital to fund the acquisition of GrabOne. A Vicinity representative will hold a Board position on the expanded GMP Board, joining incumbent director Anna Shave of Tanarra Capital and the recent appointments of Naomi Simson and Justin Hind.

“GMP will add to Vicinity’s physical retail reach by offering established e-commerce brands, an audience of over 1.7 million online shoppers, and data and insights via Power Retail, Click Central, and two of the four biggest weeks on the Australian online retail calendar including Click Frenzy.

“Joining forces with Vicinity will facilitate GMP’s continued growth and enhance the performance of omnichannel retail in Australia and deliver some ground-breaking new initiatives for retailers and customers.”

GMP owns three brands, Click Frenzy, the market leading online shopping events, Click Central, the everyday premium marketplace, and Power Retail an e-commerce analytics firm. It has entered into an agreement to acquire GrabOne, one of the largest daily deals websites in New Zealand. Until the Vicinity investment, the company was owned by founder and Executive Chairman Grant Arnott, and by Tanarra Capital which acquired its stake in 2016.