Equistone secures majority stake in Tristyle Mode

Katharina Semke
28 July 2015

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Equistone Partners Europe has wholly acquired German fashion group Tristyle Mode, alongside the company's management.

The purchase was financed through Equistone's fifth fund, which closed on €2bn earlier this year, and is still subject to regulatory approval. The deal was leveraged below 50%, with a senior debt package provided by a group of five banks, led by IKB. Bayern LB functioned as agent.

Equistone stated that the sale process was very limited in scope. Since the fashion group is a niche target, the GP and a small number of other firms were approached by the vendor's corporate finance adviser. Equistone believes its previous experience in the mail order business was a main factor for its successful bid.

Equistone will hold a 90% stake of the company, with management securing the remaining 10%. The GP plans to follow a buy-and-build strategy for Tristyle, although specific businesses have not been targeted yet.

The vendors, Primondo Specialty Group and Wirth Beteiligungs, started to prepare the sale process last year by reassessing the group's portfolio. Mail order group Atelier GS was outsourced by founding family Wirth, while the Emilia Lay brand was incorporated into online fashion retailer Peter Hahn.

Tristyle is Equistone's third purchase in Germany since April 2015. The GP had most recently acquired automotive components manufacturer Rhodius from Nord Holding and Bayerische Beteiligungsgesellschaft in May 2015.

Company
Munich-based fashion group Tristyle focuses on the over-45 audience with its two fashion brands Peter Hahn, founded in 1964 in Winterbach, and Madeleine Mode, founded in 1977 in Zirndorf. The group also comprises an Asian purchasing office, Tristyle Asia.

Tristyle generated a turnover of €483m in 2014, with Peter Hahn accounting for €321m and Madeleine Mode €162m. Combined EBITDA stood at €35.6m, a 14% increase on the previous year.

People
Managing director Michael Bork and analyst Katja Mühlhäuser represented Equistone. Thomas Hetmann is the director of Tristyle.

Advisers
Equity – N+1 (Debt advisory); CMS (Legal); KPMG (Tax, financial due diligence); Shearman (Financial due diligence); PwC (Commercial due diligence).