Primary Capital mulls Paperchase sale

Mikkel Stern-Peltz
14 October 2014

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Paperchase, the stationery chain backed by Primary Capital, has appointed financial advisers to explore the sale of the business following the approach of a number of suitors.

According to CEO Timothy Melgund, PwC and Financo have been appointed to identify sale options.

"We have received a number of approaches for the business and decided to appoint financial advisers to consider these in the context of our aspirations to continue to grow and develop the brand," Meglund said in a statement.

The strategic review comes amid reports of offers around £150m for the 46-year-old stationery chain, which has been in private equity hands since 1996. Graphite Capital acquired the business in the mid-90s, selling it in 2004 to Borders Group – a US-based global books, music and movies retailer – in a deal valued at £18.6m, according to unquote" data.

Primary Capital bought Paperchase in a £31m MBO in 2010 from now-defunct retailer Borders.

The stationery retailer, which boasts 130 shops in the UK and 30 internationally, reported an EBITDA of £7.3m in 2013, a 27% increase in EBITDA compared to the previous year. Revenues were also up by 14%, hitting £113.8m.