Privet sells Vivid Toy Group to Goliath

Under the GP's tenure, the business replaced its management team and introduced Tony Hicks, formerly Carlsberg's CEO for Indochina, as its CEO. It also invested in modernising its operational activities and systems.

According to publicly available documents, Vivid's parent group generated a negative operating EBITDA of -£2.5m from a turnover of £12.2m in the year ending in June 2017.

The transaction, which a spokesperson for Privet declined to comment on, was conducted on an off-market basis.

Previous funding
Vivid first received PE backing in 2003, when Phoenix Equity Partners acquired a 65% stake in the business via its £62m buyout from the Jordan Company.

Privet, which typically invests £1-10m in companies with turnovers of £10-200m, then acquired a majority stake from Phoenix in March 2017.

Company
Founded in 1992, Guilford-headquartered Vivid manufactures toys and board games. Its range includes Moshi Monsters, Thunderbirds, Care Bears, Crayola Games and Articulate. The business distributes toys in 60 countries via retailers including Tesco, Argos, Auchan, Wal-Mart, Carrefour, Mueller, Target, Smyths, The Entertainer and Amazon. It has additional offices in Paris, Frankfurt, Hong Kong and China.

People
Privet Capital – Steve Keating (founder, managing partner).

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• Topics
• Exits
• UK / Ireland
• Consumer
• United Kingdom
• Privet Capital
• Trade sale