Graphite slips on Kurt Geiger

Barclays Private Equity has more than doubled its investment in Kurt Geiger, the luxury shoe retailer, by selling it to Graphite Capital for £95m.

Kurt Geiger, which is also headquartered in the UK capital, sells its own and third party premium and luxury footwear brands such as Prada, Gucci and Jimmy Choo. It has outlets at include department stores like Harrods and John Lewis, as well as operating 16 of its own stores, six airport outlets, international concessions in Printemps in France and La Rinascente in Italy and a range of licensing, wholesaling and franchising operations.

Barclays PE backed an MBO in July 2005 from the Harrods Group in a £46m transaction, taking a 72% stake in the business. The captive investor made a 2.5x return on its investment. Under the new ownership structure, Kurt Geiger management will take a 30% stake.

Steven Silvester, director at Barclays, said: “Kurt Geiger has provided us with a very good return on our investment and adds to our first class track record in the retail sector. During the period of our involvement, and with our strong support and active encouragement, Neil Clifford and his team have taken the business from strength to strength. At the same time, they have carefully laid the foundations for further growth both in the UK and overseas, which should allow the strong financial performance to continue under new ownership.”

Graphite senior partner, Markus Golser, said: “Kurt Geiger has great depth in its design and merchandising functions and tremendous opportunity to consolidate its position as the leading luxury branded shoe retailer.”