Next takes firm control of Reiss with £128m deal

Enderby-based retail giant Next has entered into a partnership with Reiss family to buy Warburg Pincus’s 34% interest in the Reiss Group in a deal worth £128m.

Next’s holding in the Reiss business will increase from 51% to 72% after the deal has completed. The Reiss family’s holding will increase to 22% and the Reiss management team will hold 6% equity in the business.

Following completion of this transaction, Reiss’s results will be consolidated into the Next accounts.

Christos Angelides was appointed CEO of Reiss in 2017 and will remain in the role. He previously worked for Next for 28 years, serving 14 years on the Next board as group product director. Reiss will continue to retain its own board of directors, Reiss management will retain autonomy and creative independence and the business will continue to be headquartered in London.

Simon Wolfson, Next chief executive, said: “Reiss has performed exceptionally well since we first invested in March 2021. This success has been driven by the strength of its brand, first class management and the benefits of Total Platform; we look forward to continuing to develop the business with Christos and the Reiss team. Warburg Pincus has been an excellent partner throughout the term of our investment and we have enjoyed working with them during the last two years.”

Adarsh Sarma, managing director and Rianne Schipper, principal, Warburg Pincus, said: “Warburg Pincus is proud to have supported Reiss through its growth journey since 2016. We would like to thank Christos, Jonathan and the management team for their unrelenting hard work and commitment – they have done an outstanding job, consistently demonstrating category-leading performance. We have also been delighted by our partnership with Next and the way in which Next’s Total Platform has accelerated growth and enhanced the performance of the business.”

Christos Angelides, Reiss chief executive, said: “We are appreciative of the excellent partnership with Warburg Pincus over the past seven years – their expertise has been instrumental to our sustained development and they have been a strong and trusted partner. We look forward to continuing to focus on creating authentic and timeless collections for our customers and over the next few months we will be launching a number of new initiatives that will both expand the breadth and choice of our collections worldwide.”