Baugur acquires fashion retailer Jane Norman from Graphite

01 Aug '05

4 min read

London based fashion retailer Jane Norman, has been sold by Graphite Capital in a Management Buy-Out (MBO) backed by Baugur Group and Kaupthing Bank. The deal values the company at £117.4 million.

The fast-growing young women's fashion retailer, Jane Norman has grown rapidly under the leadership of CEO Saj Shah since 1994 and now operates 39 high street stores and 56 concessions across the United Kingdom and Ireland. The company has carved a niche in the UK retail market, with its high fashion offering under the Jane Norman brand. Its target customer is the fashion conscious 15-25 year old age group.

In the year to March 2005, Jane Norman reported sales of £70.7m and EBITDA of £14.3m. Over the past five years, annual sales have grown by 230 per cent and operating profits by 250 per cent.

Saj Shah, CEO of Jane Norman commented: “Since Graphite Capital backed our management buyout in 2003 Jane Norman has opened 48 new outlets. It is now time to move on to a new phase and we believe Baugur and Kaupthing are the perfect partners to take this business forward.”

“Jane Norman is a fantastic business and just the sort of company Baugur wants to invest in. We are backing a management team with a proven track record and a fast growing brand. We believe this company has great potential”, said Gunnar Sigurðsson, Managing Director of UK Investments at Baugur Group.

David Sherratt, Head of Kaupthing Principal Investments, said: “We are delighted to be investing in Jane Norman and to have the opportunity to support their highly capable management team. This is another example of Kaupthing's unique approach in providing both debt finance and equity as a way of investing in the future success of our clients.”

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