TowerBrook Capital Partners and Jimmy Choo founder Tamara Mellon have acquired the luxury shoe business from Lion Capital for an enterprise value of £185m. TowerBrook will be the lead investor and majority owner of the company. Gala Capital, the Spanish private equity firm, is also to invest in the transaction.
Jimmy Choo was founded in 1996 in London as a women’s luxury shoe business, opening its first store in Motcomb Street. The firm now has 60 branded stores worldwide, including recently opened stores in Chicago, Hong Kong, Miami, Singapore and Tokyo. Sales of the group have grown since 2001 at a compound rate of 45 per cent to £65m today.
Tamara Mellon will continue to have direct oversight of Jimmy Choo’s creative direction and image and promotional activities, working in collaboration with long-standing creative director Sandra Choi. Robert Bensoussan, Jimmy Choo’s chief executive since 2001, will continue to oversee the company’s development, including its international reach and luxury ranges. He will also work alongside TowerBrook to seek potential acquisitions in the luxury goods sector
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