Industry duo eye 'significant growth' after acquiring eBuyer

Mark Reed and Rich Marsden acquire £240m-revenue tech etailer

eBuyer is poised for "significant growth", new owners Mark Reed and Rich Marsden have asserted after acquiring the tech e-tail giant from West Retail Group.

Ranking 15th in Top VARs, consumer electronics and IT components specialist eBuyer reported revenues of £241m in 2021, and employs over 200 staff.

Having owned eBuyer for 19 years, West Retail Group has sold the Yorkshire-based business to investor Reed and industry veteran Marsden (pictured above) for an undisclosed sum.

Marsden will take on the role of CEO, with EU expansion now on the table.

The deal sees Reed and Marsden reigniting a business partnership that began in 1999 at Realtime Distribution (which the former owned and the latter went on to run).

In 2005 Reed also founded Heaven Media, a 100-employee marketing and creative agency for gaming and technology.

Marsden said that he had worked alongside eBuyer "my entire career".

"I have been working on this deal for some time and knew that someone like Mark was the one person I trusted to help me deliver it. We're extremely grateful to West Retail Group for the opportunity to be the next custodians of this business and build on the great work so far," Marsden added.

Reed added: "Having been involved in the technology and gaming space for the past 29 years, the acquisition of ebuyer.com felt like a natural step forward.

"Ebuyer.com has huge growth potential and we have ambitions to expand into the EU, whilst also developing our gaming and PC lines.

"Trust and respect is what has kept the relationship with Rich and I over so many years and it is that basis that this acquisition and his leadership stems from. Between Rich's expertise in hardware and the resources at our disposal, we believe there is significant growth in the business, this is what excites us about the opportunity."

eBuyer generated less than a quarter of West Retail Group's 2021 top line, with over £900m of its £1.2bn revenues drawn from its Wren Kitchens brand.

All assets and staff of eBuyer will remain with the business.