Fashion Investments and M&A

Date: January 2025
Buyer: Marquee Brands
Target: Laura Ashley
Business: Homewares and Women’s Clothing Brand
Value: Undisclosed
Details: New York-based Marquee Brands has acquired Laura Ashley, the British heritage womenswear and homeware brand, from Gordon Brothers for an undisclosed amount. Gordon Brothers acquired Laura Ashley out of administration in 2020, and have sold to Marquee Brands, the owner of Ben Sherman and the Martha Stewart brand, for an undisclosed amount. As part of the deal, the existing Laura Ashley management ream will remain in place, and Marquee Brands will open a new European headquarters in London.

Date: January 2025
Buyer: Sociedad Textil Lonia
Target: Christian Lacroix
Business: Luxury womenswear
Value: Undisclosed
Details: French luxury womenswear label, Christian Lacroix, founded by the eponymous Christian Lacroix, has been sold by Falic Group to Sociedad Textil Lonia (STL), a Spanish company, for an undisclosed amount. Falic Group, which specialises in duty-free retail, acquired the business in 2005 from LVMH, who had been a key investor from the brand’s creation in 1987. SLT is a textile company with its own design team, production facilities for ready-to-wear and accesses, and a distribution network. Puig, the Spanish fashion and fragrance retail giant, is a 25% shareholder in SLT.

Date: December 2024
Buyer: Jimmy Collins
Target: YMC
Business: Menswear and womenswear brand
Value: Undisclosed
Details: Jimmy Collins, the co-founder and CEO of YMC (also known as You Must Create), has acquired a majority shareholding in the company from Stephen Marks, the co-founder of French Connection. Jimmy Collins founded YMC with Fraser Moss in 1995, before selling the business to French Connection in 2004 as part of a financial rescue deal, and has now bought-back the majority of shares in the brand. YMC operates two stores in London, with the UK, the US and South Korea forming the brand’s largest markets. Following the transaction, the brand plans to move towards “a more minimalist and genderless aesthetic”, expand its physical stores in key markets, and increase prices by around 15% to reflect changes in fabric, manufacturing and product development

Date: December 2024
Buyer: Silas Capital, Experienced Capital, Monogram Capital Partners, Felix Capital
Target: Violette_FR
Business: Beauty Brand
Value: Undisclosed
Details: Violette_FR, the French beauty brand created by Violette Serrat, has completed a Series B funding round. The fundraising was led by new investor, Silas Capital, with Experienced Capital and existing investors Monogram Capital Partners and Felix Capital co-investing. The brand is known for its clean, cruelty-free and vegan products, including skincare, makeup an haircare, and to date has been focussed on the e-commerce market, with a few brick and mortar distributors such as Le Bon Marché in Paris, Oh My Cream in the UK and France, and Mecca in Australia. The investment will allow the brand to scale-up in 2025, with a new major retail partner to come in 2025, a focus on eco-friendly, sustainable packaging, and plans to build the necessary infrastructure to expand in the US and international markets.

Date: December 2024
Buyer: Zalando
Target: About You
Business: Fashion Online Retailer
Value: Undisclosed
Details: German fashion online retailer Zalando has agreed to acquire About You, a fashion online retailer, also headquartered in Germany, for a rumoured €1.1billion (£906m). The transaction is expected to complete in summer 2025, once regulatory approvals have been obtained. About You is known for its enterprise software platform Scayle, used by 200 stores across the world, and counts Manchester United football club amongst its customers. The acquisition is expected to help Zalando reach younger, Gen-Z shoppers, as much of About You’s marketing involves collaborations with social medial influencers.

Date: November 2024
Buyer: Secret Sales
Target: Afound
Business: Fashion Marketplace
Details: Secret Sales, a company backed by investment fund Perwyn, has acquired Afound, an online fashion marketplace, from H&M Group for an undisclosed amount. Secret Sales is one of Europe’s leading digital fashion retail platforms, and has over 16 million account holders across Europe, while Afound brings a product inventory from over 3,800 European brands. Afound will join Secret Sales’ existing platform in December 2024.

Date: November 2024
Buyer: Frasers Group
Target: Holdsport
Business: Sporting Retailer
Value: Undisclosed
Details: Frasers Group has acquired South African sporting and outdoor-retailer, Holdsport, for an undisclosed amount. The acquisition bolsters Frasers’ sports-retailer offering alongside Sports Direct, with a Frasers spokesperson saying “Holdsport has “well-established relationships with major international brands”, including Nike, adidas, Asics, Hoka, and Garmin”. Holdsport has 88 stores across South Africa and Namibia, as well as a network of warehouses, offices and factories in Johannesburg and Cape Town.

Date: November 2024
Buyer: United Nomads Group
Target: Caravana
Business: Fashion and Lifestyle Brand
Value: Undisclosed
Details: London-based United Nomads Group has acquired Mexican fashion and lifestyle brand, Caravana, from Cho Ventures, for an undisclosed amount. This will be the latest addition to United Nomads Group’s resortwear portfolio, alongside its Delos brand. It is hoped that the acquisition will help Caravana move into a new era, while further emphasising United Nomad Group’s mission to “redefine resort retail”.

Date: November 2024
Buyer: True
Target: Represent
Business: Luxury Streetwear
Value: Undisclosed
Details: True, a London private equity firm which has invested in Boy Smells and Haeckels, has acquired a minority stake in British menswear brand, Represent. Represent was founded by brothers Michael and George Heaton in 2011, and the brand opened flagship stores in Manchester and Los Angeles in 2024, alongside its retail partnerships with Selfridges and End. The investment by True will allow the brand to scale up in 2025, with a new store in London planned, and targeted growth in the US, followed by APAC and EMEA markets.

Date: November 2024
Buyer: Public
Target: Boohoo
Business: Online fashion retailer
Value: £39.3m
Details: Boohoo, the online fashion retailer, has secured consent from its lender to proceed with its £39.3m fundraising through a fresh issue of shares and placing, as part of the business’ wider restructuring plans. The lender’s consent was required under the business’ existing facility agreement. An application has now been made to the London Stock Exchange for the admission of 126,908,442 new ordinary shares to trading on AIM, to begin trading on 26 November 2024. With the lender’s consent secured, the fundraising remains conditional only on (i) the placing agreement becoming unconditional, and (ii) admission to AIM.