Palamon exits Feelunique in GBP 132m sale to Sephora

Sephora has been owned by LVMH (LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton) since 1997 and is headquartered in France.

The sale ends an investment period of nine years for Palamon. Feelunique launched a Chinese website in 2015 and made bolt-ons including France-based Parfumeries Rive Droite in November 2015. Palamon said it also invested in the improvement of the company’s operations and expanded Feelunique’s product range.

Unquote sister publication Mergermarket reported in August 2018 that Feelunique had received a GBP 100m offer from market peer The Hut Group in 2018, but the company rejected the deal.

Previous funding
In December 2012, Palamon and Sirius Equity acquired a majority stake in Feelunique. The company was valued at GBP 26m at the time, meaning that its valuation has increased more than 5x during the GP’s investment period.

In April 2016, Palamon invested a further GBP 5m in Feelunique as part of a GBP 20m round of funding for the company. The company intended to expand its presence in France following the injection of fresh capital, it said in a statement issued at the time. Palamon backed the deal via Palamon European Equity III, according to Unquote Data. The vehicle held a final close in June 2017 on EUR 402m and backs European mid-market buyouts.

The company raised additional financing of GBP 8.5m in 2017, according to its website.

Company
Founded in 2005 and headquartered in London, Feelunique is an online retailer for beauty products and accessories, including perfume and skincare. According to its website, the company sells products from around 800 brands and ships to around 120 countries.

Feelunique posted revenues of GBP 30m at the time of Palamon’s investment, according to the GP’s website. The company exceeded turnover of GBP 80m in 2017. According to its latest financial statements, the company posted revenues of GBP 79.7m and EBITDA of GBP 5m in the financial year to 29 March 2020, versus revenues of GBP 89.4m and EBITDA of GBP 5.8m in the same period in 2019. The company is expected to exceed GBP 100m in sales for the financial year to 31 March 2021.

People
Palamon Capital Partners – Louis Elson (managing partner).
Feelunique – Sarah Miles (CEO).

Advisers
Vendor – PwC (commercial due diligence); Deloitte (financial due diligence); Slaughter and May (legal); Rothschild (M&A).

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