VENTE-PRIVEE DIGITALISATION INVESTMENT PROGRAMME

The project concerns the Promoter's investments aiming at expanding and improving its legacy digital platform through deploying new and more efficient technologies across its services, aiming at enhancing customer experience for its members (i.e. consumers) and brands, improving operational performance and achieving cost synergies. The activities will take place primarily in the Promoter's technical centres in France between 2020 and 2023.

The project concerns the Promoter's transformative investments that shall help the company maintain its competitive edge and deliver best-in-class industry standards and which cover the sales processes (new automated sales creation flow, order pipe, flexible warehouse allocation, intelligent reporting, setting up a European-wide marketplace), back-office processes (stock management, supply chain integration), seamless integration of different sales channels, logistics processes, and the information technology (IT) systems that support the above, including enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems.

The financing of this project supports development and innovation activities which generate positive knowledge and technology externalities through the creation of innovative processes, products or services and through skills development and upgrading. It addresses the market failure of imperfect competition, as it contributes to expanding the competitive space for new product technologies and helps to mitigate the competitive disadvantage of companies with outdated digital technologies in online services. In addition the activities are expected to involve a number of expert companies and subcontractors in Europe, thus facilitating the accumulation and diffusion of knowledge within the European industry. The project has also some positive sustainability impacts mainly in terms of improvement of energy efficiency and CO2 footprint through the consolidation of IT and logistics infrastructures and through the development of customer-to-customer and second-hand sales channels, which facilitate the expansion of circular economy concepts in the sector.

The promoter has well-established ICT and digitalisation capacities and well-structured development practices.Investments in digital transformation are aligned with EU policy objectives (e.g. Digital Agenda, Horizon 2020 focus area "Digitising and transforming European industry and services") and are key to strengthening the competitiveness of the sector. The project contributes to the Bank's Policy objective "Innovation and Skills".
EIB's involvement provides a highly flexible financial product to the borrower, allowing it to diversify its financing sources, lengthen its average debt maturity and strengthen its overall financial position. It also provides a signaling effect on the soundness and quality of the project, facilitating funding from commercial banks.

The development, implementation and deployment of IT systems is not covered by EIA Directive 2014/52/EU amending the Directive 2011/92/EU. In addition, the project activities are expected to be carried out in existing facilities that are already used for the same purposes and that are not expected to change their scope due to the project. Further details will be analysed during the due diligence.

The Promoter has been assessed by the EIB as being a private company not subject to EU rules on public procurement or concessions. However, if at the project appraisal, the EIB were to conclude that the Promoter is subject to the EU public procurement legislation then the Bank would duly inform the Commission Services and would require the Promoter to apply those rules.