Change Capital sells Jil Sander

Change Capital Partners, a UK private equity firm headed by former Marks & Spencer chairman Luc Vandevelde, has sold German fashion house Jil Sander to Tokyo-listed apparel group Onward Holdings and its European subsidiary GIBO for approximately €167m (US$244m).

The transaction, expected to close shortly after obtaining regulatory clearance, comes after close to two-and-a-half years of ownership by Change Capital Partners, which bought the provider of luxury women’s and men’s ready-to-wear accessories, footwear and fragrances from luxury goods giant Prada for an undisclosed sum in April 2006.

According to Change Capital Partners, Jil Sander’s EBITDA has grown from negative €12.8m in 2005 to €6.1m in 2007, while distribution networks in the US, Europe and Japan as well as product ranges have been expanded.

Founded in 1975 in Hamburg, Prada bought the business in 1999.