Next shells out £128m for an even bigger Reiss stake

Next has boosted its control of fashion label Reiss, buying a sizeable holding from its fellow owner, the American investment company Warburg Pincus.

It paid £128 million ($162 million) to increase its ownership to 72% from 51% and at the same time, the Reiss family’s holding will increase to 22% of the business. Reiss management holds the rest of the shares. 

Next has been extremely acquisitive in recent years but has been happy to share ownership of brands with founders. Its acquisition of Joules, for instance, saw it teaming up with Tom Joule to buy the brand.

The company also now controls Cath Kidston and retailer JoJo Maman Bébé and both its Next brand operation and its acquired (either owned or licensed) labels appear to be performing well. It raised its profit guidance last month.

Premium fashion label Reiss was founded by David Reiss in 1971 and Warburg Pincus acquired control in 2016 with its founder holding a minority stake. Next bought in to the business in 2021 via a 25% stake in a deal that allowed it to buy more in future.

Earlier in the summer there had been reports that Reiss was up for sale, but there were also suggestions at the time from “a senior retail executive” that Next was aiming to establish a market price “and then acquire Warburg Pincus’s remaining interest”. Clearly that view was correct, and it had always seems surprising that Next would consider selling the business given that it’s growing profitably, and still has plenty of potential to expand further.