Barclays Private Equity / Kurt Geiger

On 22 February 2008, our client, Barclays Private Equity ("BPE") agreed to the sale of Kurt Geiger Holdings Limited for an enterprise value of £95m, to Graphite Capital Management Limited.

Kurt Geiger is Europe's leading multi-channel retailer of luxury branded shoes and accessories, and was voted "The coolest shoe brand" by Vogue readers in 2007. The Company sells both third party and owned brands (Kurt Geiger, KG, Solea and Carvela) through a wide range of channels. These channels include some of the most prestigious department stores in the world, including Harrods, Selfridges, La Rinascente (Italy) and Printemps (France). The Company also has 16 Kurt Geiger branded stores in the UK, as well as airport operations and franchisee stores in the Middle East.

The disposal comes two and a half years after the initial buyout from Harrods in July 2005, when the Company was acquired for circa £46m. In the sale to Graphite, management have rolled a considerable amount of their equity into the new company.

Canaccord Genuity acted as sole financial advisor to Barclays Private Equity and Kurt Geiger Holdings Limited and procured debt facilities which were ultimately made available to Graphite.