International investment bank Altium Capital has advised on the sale of sofa.com to private equity firm CBPE Capital.
Founded by Rohan Blacker and the late Pat Reeves in 2005, sofa.com is a fast growing omnichannel retailer of sofas, armchairs and beds. Over the last nine years Sofa.com has become a disruptive force in the furnture sector, providing exceptional product quality and value for money, best in class customer service whilst benefiting from an online route to market which reduces the businesses’ reliance on retail stores. Sofa.com recently opened a state of the art manaufacturing facility in Poland, and as a result it now owns and controls all elements of the value chain from manufacturing through to delivery.
CBPE’s investment follows a period of significant growth and transition that has seen sofa.com become a market leader in the sector.
As part of the deal Justin Stead joins as Chairman. Justin has experience in the sector having previously been the CEO of the largest prestige and luxury jewellers in the UK, Aurum Holdings, the owner of jewellers Goldsmiths and Mappin & Webb. CEO Gareth Williams will remain in his current role at the business.
This deal is the latest of several high profile mid-market transactions for Altium, following the completion in January of the £300m sale of Italian restaurant chain Prezzo plc to global private equity fund TPG.
The team at Altium was led by managing director Christopher Jones who built a relationship with the founders of sofa.com for several years prior to the sale.
Christopher Jones, Managing Director at Altium, says: “We are delighted to have advised the shareholders of sofa.com on this transaction. Sofa.com is a fantastic brand that has shaken-up the soft furnishings sector with its innovative and disruptive business model. It has been a pleasure to work with Rohan, Gareth and the team at sofa.com and we are sure the business will continue to flourish under CBPE’s ownership. This transaction is the latest in a long line of successful eCommerce transactions for Altium, including the recent sales of MyTheresa.com and Surfdome.com, reinforcing our status as Europe’s leading corporate finance advisor in the sector.”
