Private equity houses are reported to be locked in a bidding war to acquire luxury multichannel retailer Matchesfashion.com pushing the price up to £800m.
According to Sky News final bids are due in from interested parties imminently with three private equity houses in the running. The business was previously reported to be valued at around £600m.
Should the figure prove to be correct, such a deal would net around £400m for founders Tom and Ruth Chapman, who established it as a Wimbledon boutique 30 years ago, and propel them into the league of the UK’s super wealthy.
It emerged earlier this year that the Chapmans were considering a sale as its minority backers Scottish Equity Partners and Highland Capital, who invested £32m in the business in 2012, were looking for an exit.
The sale process is being handled by Qatalyst Partners in San Francisco, according to Sky News, and while the interested PE parties have not be named Apax Partners, KKR and Permira have been linked to a potential deal.
Matchesfashion released details of its financial performance for the first time this year, a move which was said to be designed to flush out potential suitors. In March it revealed that sales in the 2016 financial year had increased by 61% to £204m, while EBITDA was up nearly six-fold at £19m.
The business has boutiques in some of London’s smartest neigbourhoods including Wimbeldon, Richmond upon Thames, Notting Hill and Marylebone. It moved into ecommerce in 2006 (its website stocks around 400 brands and ships globally) and in 2015 the Chapmans handed over the CEO reins to Ulric Jerome to become co-chairs of the business.
It has since been innovating with technology and logistics, such as launching a dedicated French language site and offering 90-minute deliveries within London. Earlier this month it announced it would be opening a 24,000 sq ft creative hub, housing a photography, video and editorial facility, at the Here East Studios as Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.
