Lovehoney now bedfellow with German rival

Bath based sex toy firm Lovehoney has tied up a deal with a German rival to create a business worth £850 million.

The merger of Lovehoney and Wow Tech Group is thought to have created the world’s biggest sex toy brand.

Lovehoney has grown rapidly over the past 20 years, after founders, Richard Longhurst and Neal Slateford cobbled together £9,000 to start the business in 2002.

The new entity, which will be known as the Lovehoney Group, will employ 650 people in eight offices around the world.

It caps a remarkable journey for Lovehoney, which has its headquarters nestled alongside dozens of terrace houses in one of the West’s most eclectic commercial clusters.

Lovehoney’s bedfellows on Locksbrook Road near the River Avon include the European headquarters of an American tele-evangelist and a defence company that makes suspension systems for tanks, alongside the car dealers, plumbing supply companies and roofing firms one might expect in any industrial area.

The firm’s growth was accelerated by its collaboration with Fifty Shades of Grey, sexual wellness becoming more mainstream and online retail making it easier for shoppers to access its products.

The transaction combines Lovehoney’s leading international operations and brands – including Fifty Shades of Grey – with Wow Tech’s Womanizer, We-vibe, Romp and Arcwave family of brands.

The combined group will be led by Berlin-based Wow Tech CEO Johannes Plettenberg. Lovehoney and Wow Tech will continue to be run by their current management teams, with both Mr Slateford, a former electronica musician, and Mr Longhurst, an IT magazine editor, staying on the board.

Mr Plettenberg said: “We are excited about this transaction and partnership. Amorana, Lovehoney and Wow Tech share the same mission to destigmatise sexuality, empower people to enjoy a fulfilling love life, and experience sexual happiness.”