Silverfleet Capital, the European private equity firm, has completed its second retail deal within two months with the acquisition of footwear business Office for an undisclosed amount from West Coast Capital.
In October, Silverfleet Capital acquired the Schneider Group, a German catalogue and online retailer of fashion, lifestyle and gift products, and sold Histoire D’Or, a jewellery retailer in France.
Office first opened in 1981 and has since grown to 75 standalone stores in the UK and the Republic of Ireland and 46 concessions in House of Fraser, Topshop (including New York), Harvey Nichols and Selfridges. Total sales in 2009 were GBP146m with an Ebitda of GBP18.5m.
“Office is a great business with a management team that really understands what its customer wants. The stores are a destination for anyone looking for fashionable shoes – men or women; designer look to sports. The young fashion sector of the footwear market is growing fast and there is still room for a roll-out of stores within the UK and potentially overseas,” says Gareth Whiley, partner at Silverfleet Capital.
Brian McCluskey, who will continue as chief executive of Office under Silverfleet Capital ownership, says: “The past seven years have been a rewarding challenge; the next seven should yield continuing opportunity as we look to further UK and potentially international expansion. During the sale process Silverfleet Capital demonstrated their knowledge of, and commitment to, growing this business in a dynamic manner and we in the management team look forward to building on our existing success with them. Thanks to the commitment of our brand partners and our people we look forward to continued growth.”
As part of the deal management will invest to acquire a stake in the business. Debt capital was provided by Lloyds Banking Group, Banca IMI and the Cooperative Bank.
The acquisition is Silverfleet Capital’s third from its current EUR670m fund following the EUR212m acquisition in September 2009 of Kalle, a producer of artificial sausage casings, and the Schneider Group in October 2010.
