• Home
  •  
    Regions
    • Europe
    • UK & Ireland
    • DACH
    • Nordic
    • France
    • Southern Europe
    • Benelux
    • CEE
    • Asia
  •  
    Deals
    • Buyouts
    • Venture
    • Exits
    • Refinancings
    • Build-up
    • Turnaround
    • Secondaries
    • Advanced deals search
  •  
    Funds
    • Buyout
    • Venture
    • Mezzanine
    • Debt
    • Funds-of-funds
    • Secondaries
    • Fundraising pipelines
    • Advanced funds search
  •  
    GPs & LPs
    • GP profiles
    • LP profiles
    • GP news
    • LP news
    • Sponsors search
    • LPs search
  •  
    Secondaries
    • Deals
    • Funds
    • News
    • Analysis
  •  
    People
    • People moves
    • Analysis
    • In Profile
    • Q&A
    • Videos
    • Comment
  •  
    Analysis
    • In Profile
    • Fundraising
    • Q&A
    • Comment
    • Videos
    • Podcast
    • Reports
    • Data Snapshots
  •  
    Unquote Data
    • Deals search
    • Exits search
    • Funds search
    • Sponsors search
    • Advisers search
    • LPs search
    • League tables
    • Reports
  • Sign in
  • Sign in
    • You are currently accessing unquote.com via your Enterprise account.

      If you already have an account please use the link below to sign in.

      If you have any problems with your access or would like to request an individual access account please contact our customer service team.

      Phone: +44 (0)203 741 1137

      Email: Georgina.Lawson@acuris.com

      • Sign in
     
      • Newsletters
      • Account details
      • Contact support
      • Sign out
     
  • Follow us
    • Twitter
    • LinkedIn
  • Free Trial
  • Subscribe
Unquote
Unquote
  • Home
  • Regions
  • Deals
  • Funds
  • GPs & LPs
  • Secondaries
  • People
  • Analysis
  • Unquote Data
  • You are currently accessing unquote.com via your Enterprise account.

    If you already have an account please use the link below to sign in.

    If you have any problems with your access or would like to request an individual access account please contact our customer service team.

    Phone: +44 (0)203 741 1137

    Email: Georgina.Lawson@acuris.com

    • Sign in
 
    • Newsletters
    • Account details
    • Contact support
    • Sign out
 
Unquote
  • France

French PE-backed Ludendo buys Hamleys

  • Greg Gille
  • Greg Gille
  • @unquotenews
  • 18 September 2012
  • Tweet  
  • Facebook  
  • LinkedIn  
  • Google plus  
  • Send to  

Ludendo, a French toy store chain backed by NiXEN Partners and other French private equity players, has acquired iconic UK-based toys retailer Hamleys in a deal believed to be worth £60m.

NiXEN and CDC acquired all of Siparex's shares in Ludendo Groupe in 2010. The private equity houses reinvested to fund this latest transaction, alongside FSI Régions, CDC, and a mezzanine contribution from Acto Mezzanine.

Natixis, BNP Paribas, HSBC, LCL, Arkéa, Barclays and Société Générale provided a debt package to finance the deal.

Hamleys has gone through a rocky ownership sequence in recent years. It was first bought by Icelandic retailer Baugur for £58.7m in June 2003; Baugur subsequently went under and its stake in the company was taken over by Icelandic bank Landsbanki, which itself was nationalised in 2008.

Hamleys

  • DEAL:

    Acquisition finance

  • VALUE:

    £60m est (Hamleys EV)

  • LOCATION:

    London

  • SECTOR:

    Speciality retailers

  • FOUNDED:

    1760

Landsbanki reportedly owned 65% of Hamleys prior to the transaction, with another significant stake being held by Tory party donor David Rowland.

Company
London-based Hamleys was founded in 1760. The toy retailer operates 22 stores across nine countries but is mainly known for its flagship store on London's Regent Street.

Established in 1977, the Ludendo group operates 300 stores in France, Belgium, Switzerland, Morocco and Spain. It employed 2,000 staff and generated a €450m turnover prior to the Hamleys acquisition.

People
Pierre Rispoli, Frédéric Mimoun and Sébastien Ferrand worked on the deal for NiXEN. FSI Régions was represented by Jacques Solleau and Alexis Mahieu. Emmanuelle Gervais and Emeline Parry led the transaction for CDC. Acto Mezzanine was represented by Stéphane Bergez, Arnaud Faure and Christine Martinovic.

Advisers
Acquirer - Trianon Corporate Finance, Jane Coblence (Corporate finance); Rothschild, Fabrice Martineau, Mathilde Paoli, Artur Volkov (Corporate finance); Mayer Brown, Laurent Borey, Jean-Philippe Lambert, Olivier Aubouin, Carole Sabbah, Nathalie Jacquart, Maud Bischoff (Legal); Travers Smith, David Patient, Tom Coulter, Barry Newman (Legal); Eight Advisory, Stéphane Vanbergue, Victoria Sapojnic (Financial due diligence); Zolfo Coopers, Martin Lewis (Tax); Marsh, Christian Short (Insurance due diligence).

  • Tweet  
  • Facebook  
  • LinkedIn  
  • Google plus  
  • Send to  
  • Topics
  • France
  • UK / Ireland
  • Expansion
  • Consumer
  • Acquisition finance
  • France
  • United Kingdom

More on France

EMEA Public to Private M&A
Change of mind: Sponsors take to de-listing their own assets

EQT and Cinven seen as bellweather for funds to reassess options for listed assets trading underwater

  • Investments
  • 04 September 2023
EU foreign subsidies regulations
EU FSR could impact PE fundraising with potential rise in ‘clean funds’

FSR could lead GPs to create funds without foreign LPs; red tape around sovereign wealth funds likely

  • Regulation
  • 01 September 2023
Mergermarket
Letter from the editor: Unquote is moving to Mergermarket

Unquote Editor Harriet Matthews outlines Unquote.com's upcoming move to the Mergermarket platform and the new capabilities and intelligence that this brings to Unquote readers

  • Industry
  • 30 August 2023
Pensions administration software providers
IK Investment-backed Eres expected to hit the auction block by 2024

French employee savings distribution and management firm could be valued at a few hundred million euros

  • Exits
  • 24 August 2023

Latest News

Fund closes in US dollars
  • Funds
Stonehage Fleming raises USD 130m for largest fund to date, eyes 2024 programme

Multi-family office has seen strong appetite, with investor base growing since 2016 to more than 90 family offices, Meiping Yap told Unquote

  • 05 September 2023
Clinical trials and biotechnology
  • Buyouts
Permira to take Ergomed private for GBP 703m

Sponsor deploys Permira VIII to ride new wave of take-privates; Blackstone commits GBP 200m in financing for UK-based CRO

  • 04 September 2023
Public sector software
  • Exits
Partners Group to release IMs for Civica sale in mid-September

Sponsor acquired the public software group in July 2017 via the same-year vintage Partners Group Global Value 2017

  • 04 September 2023
EMEA Public to Private M&A
  • Investments
Change of mind: Sponsors take to de-listing their own assets

EQT and Cinven seen as bellweather for funds to reassess options for listed assets trading underwater

  • 04 September 2023
Back to Top
  • About Unquote
  • Advertise
  • Contacts
  • About Acuris
  • Terms of Use
  • Privacy Policy
  • Group Disclaimer
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn

© Merger Market

© Mergermarket Limited, 10 Queen Street Place, London EC4R 1BE - Company registration number 03879547

Digital publisher of the year 2010 & 2013

Digital publisher of the year 2010 & 2013