The clothing and merchandise business has become one of the central levers of the sports economy. FC Barcelona knows this well, as it has in the Barça Licensing and Merchandising (BLM) brand one of the jewels in the entity's economic crown, with revenues last season that will break 200 million euros. So much so that fashion retail brands, both sports and general consumer, seek to control the entire market: the primary one, which operates through official or licensed stores; but also the secondary one, now concentrated on external platforms such as Wallapop, dedicated to second-hand items and products, or those outside the usual channels. It is in this effort that Drelife emerges, a start-up founded and led by former professional handball player Alberto Miralles, dedicated to building and operating "second life" channels for clothing brands that wish to access these segments.

What happens when a startup is sold? Can a well-known brand continue to grow even after changing hands and becoming part of a larger group? Catalan examples like Glovo, surprisingly bought by the German giant Delivery Hero in January 2022 for almost 1 billion euros, or Wallapop, which in August announced that it was being sold to South Korean giant Naver –which already held a 30% stake– for 377 million euros, laying the groundwork for a smooth transition and emphasizing the importance of maintaining a degree of autonomy.

The popular second-hand goods buying and selling platform has closed 2024 reducing losses to 25 million euros, 18% less than the previous year, when they were 30 million, but since its founding in 2013 it has already accumulated more than 120 million euros in losses. However, the company has improved its income, closing the year with a turnover of 101 million euros, 13% more than the 89 million invoiced in 2023. According to the company, Wallapop "has reached the breakeven –break-even point between income and expenses - in its operations in the Spanish market", which, it assures, "is a further step in the consolidation of a consumption model supported by more than 19 million monthly users in southern Europe".

Naver, South Korea's leading online marketplace, has reached an agreement to acquire the Catalan object-buying platform Wallapop for €377 million. The transaction values the app at €600 million, a figure that would increase to €650 million after receiving this capital injection. As both companies explained in a statement, the agreement has the support of "the vast majority" of shareholders and is expected to be completed in the coming months, once the relevant regulatory approvals are obtained. Naver already controlled nearly 30% of Wallapop's capital after entering the market in 2021, and will now hold 100%.