Apax Partners has entered into an agreement to acquire Cole Haan, a designer and retailer of premium footwear and related accessories, from NIKE, for $570 million in cash. The transaction is expected to close in early 2013.
Cole Haan is a designer and retailer of premium men’s and women’s footwear, apparel and accessories. The company sells through department stores, 108 domestic Cole Haan stores, 68 international stores across Canada, China and Japan and its online site www.colehaan.com. Cole Haan has been a wholly-owned brand of NIKE since 1988. Cole Haan was founded in 1928 and is headquartered in New York (www.colehaan.com).
For this acquisition, Apax is partnering with Jack Boys, who led the revitalization of Converse into a fast-growing global lifestyle brand. During Mr. Boys tenure as CEO of Converse, the company achieved significant growth in sales from $150 million to over $1 billion.
“We are excited to partner with Jack to grow the Cole Haan brand in the U.S. and internationally. Cole Haan is an iconic brand with broad consumer appeal and we believe the brand has even greater opportunities in the future. We look forward to investing in the company to achieve this growth,” said Alex Pellegrini, a Partner on Apax’s Retail & Consumer team.
Apax Partners has $35 billion of capital under management and operates across the United States, Europe and Asia. Sectors of interest include: technology & telecom; retail & consumer; media; healthcare; and financial & business services. The firm is based in London, UK (www.apax.com).
Jefferies & Company acted as financial advisor and provided financing to Apax. Kirkland & Ellis provided legal advice and Ernst & Young provided accounting and tax advice.
© 2012 PEPD • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 11-19-12
