Apax acquires Matchesfashion

Founders Tom and Ruth Chapman held a stake of 67% prior to the sale with financial investors Scottish Equity Partners and Highland Europe holding minority stakes, according to a source close to the situation.

Mainstream media outlets report that the Chapmans made £400m from the sale, while also retaining part of their stake. This equates to an enterprise value of £800m.

Scottish Equity Partners and Highland Europe both retain minority stakes in the business.

Apax drew equity from its €8bn vehicle Apax IX, which held a final close in December 2016 and was 8% deployed as of March 2016, according to unquote" data.

Matchesfashion generated £19m in EBITDA from £204m in revenues for the financial year ending 31 January 2017. These figures are an increase of 558% and 61% on the previous year respectively.

Previous funding
In September 2012, Scottish Equity Partners invested £12m for a minority stake in Matchesfashion in order to expand its online sales.

Company
Matchesfashion was founded in 1987 by Tom and Ruth Chapman. The company delivers clothing from 450 designers to 176 countries. It also delivers fashion advice via its service Mystylist. The retailer's online sales grew by 73% in 2016 and the website generated 55 million visits. It is headquartered in London and employs 500 people.

People
Apax Partners – Gabriele Cipparrone (partner).
Scottish Equity Partners – Andrew Davidson, Jan Rutherford (partners).
Highland Europe – Sam Brooks, Laurence Garret (partners).
Matchesfashion – Tom Chapman, Ruth Chapman (founders); Ulric Jerome (CEO).

Advisers
Company – Qatalyst Partners (corporate finance); White & Black (legal).

• Tweet  
• Facebook  
• LinkedIn  
• Google plus  
• Send to  

• Topics
• Buyouts
• UK / Ireland
• Consumer
• Exits
• Apax Partners
• United Kingdom
• Scottish Equity Partners