Anya Hindmarch for sale as turnaround drive continues

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Mar 4, 2019

Luxury brand owners may be keen to sweep up any good opportunities at the moment, but those opportunities need to make sure they really deliver. And if they don’t, they can find themselves back up for sale.

That's the case with Anya Hindmarch at the moment with the British luxury bags specialist having been put up for sale by Valentino owner Mayhoola for Investments.

The Qatari royal family's investment fund has owned a controlling stake, for which it is believed to have paid around £27 million, since 2012, although it has injected further funds into the business in recent years.

Reports suggested that the decision to sell was a mutual one and brand founder Anya Hindmarch will stay on as chief creative officer.

The brand has been loss-making for a while. There are no recent accounts available but in 2017, the company lost more than £28 million and saw its revenue falling 10% to £37.2 million. It’s believed to have reduced those losses since then as it focused more on e-commerce and cost controls, but it still isn't profitable.

Its potential remains huge, however, and it's highly unlikely that the auction process will be some kind of fire sale as a number of private equity companies and luxury specialists can be expected to show an interest.

The brand has a high profile and a retail network that includes more than 30 stores. It has been expanding in recent years in important markets such as the US, Asia and the Middle East, although it has also closed several stores and concessions as part of a restructuring drive.

Antoine Bejui, former CFO of another of Mayhoola’s investments, Balmain, is its CEO.