(Sharecast News) - Shares in retailer Zalando slumped on Friday after Germany's finance regulator BaFin said it had started an investigation into the company over whether it omitted information about its takeover of About You in its 2025 accounts.
BaFin said it had evidence accounting regulations had been breached when Zalando failed to disclose information on a related-party transaction linked to its €1.1bn acquisition of rival About You last year.

The Financial Times cited two unnamed people familiar with the situation as saying the review centred on Zalando's failure to disclose in its 2025 annual report that Danish billionaire Anders Holch Povlsen was a significant shareholder in both Zalando and About You before the takeover.

When Zalando launched the takeover at the end of 2024, it secured commitments for about 73% of About You's shares through binding agreements with its largest shareholders before going public with its offer, it added.

Zalando said the investigation was "purely formal and materially insignificant aspect of the notes to the financial statements, as all relevant information regarding the acquisition of the ABOUT YOU shares-including the companies involved, the transaction structure, and the purchase price-was already fully publicly accessible as part of the public tender offer".

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com

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