Lion Capital buys retailer All Saints
HIGH street fashion retailer All Saints has been rescued by a private equity led consortium, following months of talks to secure a new backer.
British investment firm Lion Capital, which also owns the La Senza lingerie brand, has teamed up with US private equity house Goode Partners to buy the retailer.
The deal, which values All Saints at £105m, comes after several other bidders failed to pen an agreement.
“It’s been a long process but we finally got there in the end,” chief executive Stephen Craig said.
“We’ve been very impressed with the [Lion Capital] guys we’ve met and engaged with in a short space of time. That speaks volumes for how they see us as a brand and where we’re going,” he added
Lion Capital emerged as the front-runner in the deal at the eleventh hour, after Goode Partners had looked the more likely to lead a buyout (as revealed in Morning Wire on 27 April, above).
The US firm is said to have lacked the financial firepower to secure majority ownership of the firm, according to sources close to the deal.
The British outfit will own 65 per cent of the firm, while Goode will hold 11 per cent (see chart, left).
All Saints founder Kevin Stanford will own 15 per cent, with the firm’s management (mgmt), including its two key fashion designers, owning the remaining nine per cent.
All Saints was put on the block after majority shareholders Kaupthing and Glitnir, the Icelandic banks that collapsed during the financial crisis, looked to sell their holding.