“Sizebay is acquired by Audaces as part of global expansion strategy”

What the piece reports

This is the primary source for everything the trade press published in the days that followed, and it is not journalism. It is the parties' own account, published by one of them, so read it as a statement rather than as reporting.

What it states: Audaces, an Italian-Brazilian fashion software multinational with 32 years behind it and a claim to have pioneered Industry 4.0 manufacturing solutions for the sector, formalises the acquisition of Sizebay, described as the global leader in e-commerce size recommendation technology. Combined, the two describe more than 400 employees across six business, research and development units, with operations in more than 100 countries. Sizebay accounts for ten years in fashion e-commerce and, in its own count, stores in more than 60 countries. The business press that same month reported 58.

The announcement names who did the deal, over several months: Claudio Roberto Grando, founder and chairman of the board of Audaces, and Jorge de Paula, its director of new business, with Marcelo Motta Bastos and Janderson Roberto Araujo, the founders of Sizebay. Both companies keep independent operations, and the stated reason for the fit is affinity of goals and culture rather than a synergy target.

The line the announcement ends on is the one that reads least like a press release: they had stretched their comfort zone, and together were ready to chart new territory. For Janderson it meant staying through the transition to lead the product chapter that came next, which the trade press covered a year later.