Sycamore sells Kurt Geiger to Cinven

According to a statement, Cinven believes Kurt Geiger to be an attractive deal due to further expansion opportunities through consolidation, digitisation and further rollout in Asia and Australia.

The deal is understood to have valued Kurt Geiger at £245m.

Previous investment
Kurt Geiger's first foray with private equity took place in July 2005 when Equistone Partners Europe (then Barclays Private Equity) backed the company's £46m management buyout from Harrods Group.

In February 2008, the company was acquired by Graphite Capital in a £95m secondary buyout. The transaction awarded Equistone with a 2.5x return, according to unquote" data.

In 2011, Graphite exited the business via a trade sale to The Jones Group for £215m.

In April 2014, Kurt Geiger returned to private equity ownership, with US-based GP Sycamore Partners backing the company's management buyout. Sycamore already owned The Jones Group, having acquired it for $2.2bn in March 2014; however, the private equity firm then decided to split the brands to support Kurt Geiger's management team's buyout plans.

Company
Founded in 1963 in London, Kurt Geiger has a portfolio of footwear brands including Kurt Geiger London, KG, Miss KG and Carvela. The retailer operates 80 stores globally with 240 concessions in department stores including Harrods, Selfridges, House of Fraser and Debenhams.

Headquartered in London, the company employs 1,700 people. Kurt Geiger generated sales of £260m in 2014.

People
Neil Clifford is the CEO of Kurt Geiger. Maxim Crewe is a partner at Cinven, while Charles Miller-Jones is senior principal at the firm.

Advisers
Equity – Nomura International (M&A); Bain (Commercial due diligence); PwC (Financial due diligence); Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer (Legal); Marsh (Insurance due diligence).

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

• Topics
• Buyouts
• UK / Ireland
• Consumer
• Exits
• Cinven
• Graphite Capital
• Equistone Partners Europe
• Secondary buyout