Popular fashion giant Zalando’s shares fell about 7% on June 26 after Germany’s financial regulator, BaFin, opened a formal review of the company’s 2025 financial statements.
The investigation is linked to Zalando’s acquisition of ABOUT YOU, the German online fashion retailer it bought in 2025 for about €1.2 billion. BaFin said there are signs that Zalando may have failed to include required information about a related-party transaction in its financial notes.
A Small Disclosure Issue Spooks Investors
A related-party transaction usually means a deal involving people or companies connected to the business. These disclosures matter because they help investors understand whether a company has been transparent about important financial relationships.
BaFin said the investigation does not mean Zalando has done anything wrong. Its auditors will review the accounts and publish the result once the process is complete.
The announcement still hit investor confidence. Zalando shares dropped as much as 8% in early trading before recovering slightly. By the close, the stock was down around 7%, trading near €24.72.
Zalando pushed back against the concern. The company described the issue as “purely formal and materially insignificant” and said it is in “close and constructive dialogue with BaFin.”
It also said the relevant acquisition details were already publicly available through the official takeover process, which finished in July 2025.
The timing is awkward for Zalando. The company posted a net loss of €87.6 million in the first quarter of 2026, compared with a profit a year earlier. Costs linked to the ABOUT YOU deal and restructuring weighed on results.
Still, revenue rose 23.8% year-on-year to €2.99 billion, and Zalando kept its full-year guidance unchanged.
For now, the main issue is uncertainty. Investors will watch BaFin’s review closely, even if the company says the matter is minor.
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