Dunkerton invests £3.4m into his struggling Superdry business
Superdry founder Julian Dunkerton has invested £3.4m of his own money into the struggling fashion business.
The investment is part of a £12m fundraise and means that the founder and chief executive of the business now owns more than a quarter of the firm.
The 58-year-old Gloucestershire entrepreneur is thought to have a personal fortune of around £40m.
There have been persistent rumours that Dunkerton is considering taking the company into private ownership.
The struggling company launched the share sale in a bid to balance its books.
The Cheltenham company has been forced to issue a profit warning and sell off the rights to its brand in the Asia Pacific market.
It is also looking to make cuts of £35m which could lead to the closure of some of its high street branches.
Superdry has been affected by a slump in consumer demand for its clothing and the poor performance of its wholesale business.
The value of its shares have fallen dramatically over the last 12 months leading to a slump in the valuation of the business to around £70m.
The company has announced in a statement the completion of its share sale.
It said: “Superdry announces the successful completion of the equity raise announced on 2 May 2023, raising gross proceeds of approximately £12 million.
“The Equity Raise comprised a Placing and REX Retail Offer The placing raised gross proceeds of approximately £11.1 million. A total of 14,489,642 Placing Shares have been placed by Peel Hunt and Liberum with certain institutional and other investors at an issue price of 76.3 pence per share.”
