Boot specialist Hunter seeks new financial backing

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Jan 23, 2023

Hunter Boot is seeking new financial backers and is working with AlixPartners to try to secure a deal. That’s according to Sky News, which said the celebrity favourite brand, is the subject of an “accelerated sale process with the objective of securing a deal in the coming weeks”.

The company, which is also a royal warrant-holder, had secured an earlier rescue deal back in summer 2020 when existing shareholder Pall Mall Legacy — supported by Searchlight Capital, Pentland and other minority shareholders — pumped £16.5 million into the business to keep it going through the Covid crisis period. The deal also meant it would have access to an additional £18.5 million of capital, to support future growth. 

The latest development is perhaps a surprise given that its sales have recovered somewhat post-pandemic, although given that Chinese revenue was key to its bounce-back, the resurgence of Covid in that country and recent strict lockdowns may have been a factor in the need to find new backing. The reopening of China should be good news for the label, which is also strong in other parts of Asia.

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Sky said that alternatives if no deal can be struck are “unclear”.

Hunter, which will launch a Kenzo collab later this year, was founded in 1856 and in recent decades, products such as its premium-priced Wellington boots have been festival staples on the feet of style leaders such as Kate Moss and Alexa Chung, while Kate Winslet has also appeared on stage in a pair of its boots.

Sales reached record levels in 2018 but the pandemic and the cancellation of events hit it hard. The company closed its flagship store on London's Regent Street but retains one at Bicester Village and Woodbury in New York.