
Inflexion acquires Natural Products
Inflexion Private Equity has completed the buyout of London-based impulse giftware retailer Natural Products Worldwide (NPW).
The investment was made through the Inflexion 2010 Buyout Fund – which closed on £375m in June 2010 – and will support the domestic and international expansion of the company.
Mark Smith, founder and former CEO of Claire's Accessories in Europe, will join the NPW board as chairman as part of the transaction.
Company
Founded by Michael Sweeney and Jonathan Pooley in 1992, NPW designs, sources and sells impulse-buy giftware products to retailers in the UK, Europe and North America. The company supplies toiletries, "till-pick" items and fast-moving consumables such as lip-balms, tissues, stationery, gadgets and body care sets to clients including John Lewis, New Look and WH Smith. NPW is based in London but has sales offices in Europe and the US. The company employs 50 members of staff and reported an annual turnover of £15.6m in 2011.
People
Andrew Leek, Malcolm Coffin and Philip Edmans led the transaction for Inflexion. Leek and John Hartz, managing partner at Inflexion, will join the NPW board as non-executive directors.
Advisers
Equity – Addelshaw Goddard (Legal); DC Advisory (Corporate finance); BDO (Financial due diligence); PricewaterhouseCoopers (Tax); Marsh (Insurance due diligence); Armstrong (Commercial due diligence).
Company – Hogan Lovells (Legal); PAL (Corporate finance)
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