Hunter Boot seeks £8m cash boost, sale talks are progressing - report

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Jan 31, 2023

More detail has emerged around Hunter Boot’s search for new funding with a report saying it's seeking £8 million of working capital and is in talks with financiers including Gordon Brothers.

The original report last week said it was working with AlixPartners to try to secure a cash injection and is also the subject of an “accelerated sale process with the objective of securing a deal in the coming weeks”.

Now Sky News has put some colour around that report, saying that it’s “racing" to secure new working capital while taking those parallel talks about a sale forward. Hunter’s backers are believed to have received “several proposals” from parties including Gordon Brothers, to provide roughly £8 million. It’s also still in talks with its existing main lender Wells Fargo.

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Sky cited a “source” saying “the sale process is happening… and progressing well” and that growth is currently running at around 20%.

But there seems to be some disagreement over the firm’s prospects if it doesn’t secure the cash. A “person close to the company “ told Sky that “there isn't a scenario where the business runs out of money”. Yet it also quoted an “insider” saying it “faced a funding crisis unless it could secure the new working capital in the near term”.

Back in 2020, the company had received a funding boost of more than double the amount it’s said to be seeking at present. That partly came from existing majority shareholder Pall Mall Legacy.

Other shareholders of the celebrity favourite brand include Searchlight Capital Partners and Pentland Group.