Sparks - Card Factory

Card Factory has announced the acquisition of funkypigeon.com for a cash consideration of £24m, an implied multiple of c 5x EBITDA, to make Card Factory the second largest online card and attached gift retailer in the UK. The rationale for the deal is that it accelerates the company’s existing digital strategy. This is an area where progress has been slow of late, with cardfactory.co.uk’s online growth low in FY25 and the closure of gettingpersonal.co.uk after a number of years of disappointing growth. Funky Pigeon’s technology platform will become the core digital platform for Card Factory’s UK and Ireland business and the acquisition provides annual synergy benefits of more than £5m.

With respect to current trading, group revenue has grown by mid-single digits in the first five months of the year to the end of June. As a result, the board’s expectations for FY26 are unchanged.