Style Capital acquires 80% stake

The case had been circulating among investment funds for several months. And despite a complex M&A environment, the French brand Soeur has found a high-level investor. The French label’s growth curve and share of digital business made it an asset of choice. The Italian fund Style Capital, which has had a number of successes in recent years, notably with Golden Goose and, more recently, Zimmermann, has announced in a press release, as announced by the Italian media Milano Finanza, that it has acquired 80% of the brand’s capital, valuing it, according to the buyer, at 70 million euros.

“We are convinced that Soeur is a brand with strong growth potential in the contemporary fashion market, with the potential to increase its international footprint thanks to a defined identity and a clear creative vision,” explains Roberta Benaglia, managing director of Style Capital in the announcement. The Italian fund’s management tells FashionNetwork.com that the brand’s organization will remain unchanged, and that the new owner’s ambition is to “help accelerate the company’s development by continuing to digitize it and increase brand awareness, while intensifying its international expansion and presence in the wholesale market”.

The French women’s ready-to-wear brand founded in 2008 by sisters Domitille and Angélique Brion, which generated sales of around €20 million in 2019, is aiming for €50 million in 2023, after reaching €40 million last year. Today, the company has 48 points of sale and some 500 retailers worldwide.

“We are very grateful for the exceptional support provided by ECP, which has been crucial to Soeur’s success, and happy to begin a new chapter in our history with a highly competent and legitimate group such as Style Capital,” say the founders.

The French fund Experienced Capital Partners had acquired a 40% stake in the company in 2016, at a time when Soeur had just 6 boutiques and achieved 5 million in sales, and in this deal will be selling its shares. The founders, still involved, are retaining 20% of the capital and will therefore be minority shareholders for the first time.

“We are very proud to have contributed to the development of this fine brand, driven by the vision of its two founders, Angélique and Domitille Brion. Today, it has everything it takes to become a global reference in women’s fashion,” says Emmanuel Pradère, president of the French investment fund.

Style Capital specializes in acquiring stakes in premium fashion brands with sales of between 10 and 100 million euros. It currently owns a majority stake in the Forte_forte brand, and minority stakes in the Italian label MSGM, the high-end multi-brand chain LuisaViaRoma and the American DNVB Re/done.