Brait picks up New Look

Alice Murray
15 May 2015

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Brait SE has acquired a 90% stake in New Look for ТЃ780m, providing an exit for Apax Partners and Permira after 11 years.

The deal will see New Look's founders, the Singh family, acquire the remaining 10% stake. The deal values the business at £1.9bn.

Brait, the private equity vehicle of South African billionaire Christo Wiese, recently acquired Virgin Active.

Previous funding
Permira and Apax each invested £100m in the take-private of New Look in March 2004. The deal valued the business at £699m, according to unquote" data.

Over the past 11 years, New Look has flirted with a return to the public markets, with a £1.7bn IPO touted in February 2010, which was subsequently pulled. The buyout duo was thought to be looking at another IPO more recently, having appointed JP Morgan to advise on a listing that could have valued the company at around £2bn.

In April 2013, New Look launched an £800m bond offering to pay down its debt. The company had previously been refinanced by Apax and Permira to the tune of €1bn in 2006.

Apax and Permira's claim New Look has become the UK's second-largest womenswear retailer in terms of market share, and the market leader for under-25 womenswear.

Company
Established in 1969, New Look now operates 800 stores globally. The company focuses on value fashion apparel, footwear and accessories for women, men and teenage girls.

The company has debt of £1bn. New Look reported revenue of £1.53bn for 2014, an increase of £44.8m on the previous year. At the beginning of June the company announced an increase of 4% in adjusted EBITDA to £212.4m.

People
Anders Kristiansen is CEO of New Look. John Gnodde is CEO of Brait. Paul Mason is chairperson of New Look. Martin Halusa is chairperson of Apax. Mike Garland is partner at Permira.

Advisers
Equity – Linklaters, Alex Woodward, Stuart Boyd, Stuart Bedford, Alexander Naidenov, Annette Kurdian, Tim Lowe (Legal).
Company – Goldman Sachs (M&A); JP Morgan Cazenove (M&A); Clifford Chance (Legal); PwC (Financial due diligence).
Vendor – Altium, Phil Adams, Sam Fuller, Madeleine Jahr (Corporate finance).