SYDNEY – L Catterton Asia has acquired Colombia’s Maaji Swimwear to create a merger with Australia’s Seafolly, as part of a strategy to build a global beach lifestyle retail platform generating $500 million in sales within the next five years.
The Singapore-based arm of the LVMH-backed private equity firm said Tuesday that it has acquired 100 percent of the Colombian brand for 50 million Australian dollars, or $38 million at current exchange (1.3 times sales and 10 times earnings), with plans to create a new yet to be named combined Seafolly/Maaji group that will be headquartered in Sydney.
L Catterton will control 61 percent of the new, tentatively titled Swimwear Holding Company, with Seafolly and Maaji each holding 18 percent stakes and the remaining three percent to be divided among senior Seafolly and Maaji executives.
According to L Catterton Asia chairman and managing partner Ravi Thakran, the two brands generated annual sales of 190 million Australian dollars, or $141 million, in 2016 – with Seafolly accounting for roughly 125 million Australian dollars of that – and earnings of 26 million Australian dollars, or $19 million at average exchange for the period.
L Catterton Asia aims to lift sales to $500 million and earnings to
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