Apax Acquires Matchesfashion.com
Private equity firm Apax Partners has agreed to acquire a majority stake in British multichannel luxury apparel retailer Matchesfashion.com. The terms of the acquisition were not disclosed, but a figure of £800 million ($1 billion) has been widely reported.
Founders husband and wife duo Tom and Ruth Chapman, and existing venture capital backers Scottish Equity Partners and Highland Europe, will retain minority stakes in the business. The Chapmans said, “Our world-class team, led by CEO Ulric Jerome and CFO Fiona Greiner, will continue to drive Matchesfashion.com to becoming the number-one luxury fashion commerce company in the world.”
Matchesfashion’s £204 million revenues in 2017 put it in third place among multi-brand luxury e-commerce players, behind retailer Yoox Net-a-Porter and marketplace Farfetch, according to our April 2017 report
Deep Dive: Luxury E-Commerce Evolution.
Matchesfashion Grows 61% in FY17
Despite being an established retailer, Matchesfashion.com continues to grow fast, helped by the more general rapid growth in online luxury goods sales.
- In the year ended January 2017, Matchesfashion.com grew revenues by 61% and operating income by 1,526% year over year.
- The company’s EBIT margins have proved volatile: back in 2007, the company recorded an EBIT margin peak of 11.7%, according to S&P Capital IQ, but the EBIT margin has been sporadically negative in more recent years.
January fiscal year-end.
Source: S&P Capital IQ
The company is 30 years old this year. However, its e-commerce offering was launched only in 2006. Today, its revenues overwhelmingly originate online, according to multiple press reports. It operates three London stores.
Source: Company reports
