Darmartex in £25m deal for family retail business
YORKSHIRE-BASED clothing group Damartex has bought catalogue retailer Coopers of Stortford in a deal worth £25m.
The acquisition sees Bingley-based Damartex, famous for its Damart thermal underwear, add a business with sales of £29.6m last year which specialises in sales of practical products for the home, garden and leisure via catalogue, the web and retail stores.
Damartex was advised on the acquisition by lawyers from Walker Morris in Leeds.
Jonathan Steed and Fletcher Adamowicz from Grant Thornton in Leeds provided the tax and financial due diligence on the deal.
Founded in 1995 by Neil Cooper, the family-owned company saw sales rise 40% last year and had EBITDA of £3.7m. Located in Bishop Stortford, North East of London, Coopers of Stortford retails innovative and practical products in the areas of health, home, gardening, cooking and leisure.
Customers can buy products through catalogues (70% of revenues), web (25%) or retail store (5%).
The active management of a portfolio of brands dedicated to the Senior market (55+) is the corner stone of the Damartex strategy.
The company said the acquisition fits within this strategy and provides the opportunity to further strengthen Damartex’s position on the UK market where it is already present with the Damart, Afibel and Sedagyl brands.
With 160 employees and thanks to outstanding customer service, COOPERS OF STORTFORD is experiencing rapid growth with 1.4m customers in the UK.
Walker Morris fielded corporate advisers including Debbie Jackson, Jo Stephenson and Ben Lowen.
Debbie Jackson, corporate partner who led the Walker Morris team commented: “Damartex has been a long-standing client of Walker Morris and as such I am particularly delighted to have been able to work with their excellent management team on this key acquisition.
“Coopers of Stortford is a business which dovetails into the Damartex Group and provides opportunities for both businesses to achieve their goals.”
The management team will remain in charge of the business, reporting to Andy Hill (managing director of Damart UK). Neil Cooper plans to step back from day to day involvement in the business post-sale.
Operationally, Damartex plans to keep Coopers of Stortford as a stand-alone business and empower the management team to pursue their own commercial development, whilst exploiting other synergy opportunities arising from the combined organisation.
The integration of the company into Damartex consolidated accounts will be effective from July 1st. Considering the financial strength of Damartex, the operation will have a relatively small impact on the level of debt but will have a positive impact on results from the first year.
During the transaction, the Damartex Group was advised by Argyll Partners and the Coopers of Stortford shareholders by Cavendish Corporate Finance.
