Zalando under regulatory scrutiny over About You acquisition disclosure

Germany's financial regulator has launched a formal audit of e-commerce group Zalando's 2025 consolidated accounts after identifying concrete indications of possible omissions.

The Federal Financial Supervisory Authority, BaFin, started the examination on 19 June under the German Securities Trading Act and is using its own auditors for the review.

The matter relates to Zalando's acquisition of About You.

BaFin is examining whether information connected to a transaction involving a related entity was wrongly left out of the notes to the group's consolidated financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2025.

According to the regulator, it is legally required to open a review when it has concrete indications of accounting irregularities and must also make such reviews public, regardless of the findings.

BaFin said it wanted to make clear that neither the start of the audit nor the disclosure of it should be seen as confirmation of any error, or as a sign that accounting inaccuracies are likely to be found.

The authority said the announcement was part of its ongoing commitment to transparency in financial oversight.

BaFin said it would publish the outcome once the investigation is complete.

In its statement, Zalando said: "Zalando considers this a purely formal and materially immaterial aspect of the notes to the financial statements, as all relevant information concerning the acquisition of the About You shares – including the companies involved, the transaction structure and the purchase price – was already fully publicly available as part of the public takeover offer."

The audit follows Zalando's reporting of fiscal 2025 results at the top end of its guidance range.

The group recorded gross merchandise volume of €17.6bn ($20.07bn), up 14.7% from €15.31bn a year earlier, while revenue increased by 16.8% to €12.3bn from €10.57bn.

Zalando said the completion of the About You acquisition and developments in its consumer and wholesale divisions contributed to the performance.

"Zalando under regulatory scrutiny over About You acquisition disclosure" was originally created and published by Retail Insight Network, a GlobalData owned brand.