retail

Brentwood Associates Acquires Sundance Holdings Group

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Brentwood Associates has announced that it has acquired a majority stake in Sundance Holdings Group, a multi-channel retailer of women’s apparel and accessories. Selling shareholders, including ACI Capital and Webster Capital, will retain a minority ownership stake, and the business will remain under the leadership of current president and CEO Matey Erdos.

“Brentwood brings tremendous insight as we embark on the next level of growth,” said Mr. Erdos. “Their experience in direct marketing and multi-channel retail, as well as their track record of building consumer brands, is extremely relevant to our future success.”

Sundance Holdings Group (Sundance Catalog) was founded by Robert Redford in 1989 and is a multi-channel direct marketer and specialty retailer of women’s apparel and accessories, jewelry and home furnishings. The company is based in Salt Lake City (www.sundancecatalog.com).

“Sundance Catalog has grown to become a unique lifestyle brand with a compelling assortment of products that serve a large and highly loyal base of customers,” said Eric Reiter, a partner at Brentwood. “As partners with management, we will continue to build upon the company’s successful multi-channel distribution, and we expect significant growth as the business expands its product offering and broadens its retail footprint.”

Brentwood Associates is a consumer-focused private equity investment firm. Sectors of interest include branded consumer products; consumer and business services; direct marketing, including direct mail and e-commerce; education; health and wellness; restaurants; and specialty retail. The firm was founded in 1972 and is based in Los Angeles, CA (www.brentwood.com).

“We see tremendous opportunity in the Sundance Catalog’s direct-to-consumer channels as management is in the early stages of leveraging a vast e-commerce toolset to more effectively serve their customers,” said William Barnum, Jr., a partner at Brentwood and co-founder of the firm’s private equity effort. “Furthermore, we believe the company’s retail strategy represents a significant growth opportunity and an additional path to deeper brand penetration.”

The acquisition is being partially funded through a combination of senior and subordinated debt. OneWest Bank is acting as administrative agent for the senior credit facility, while GarMark Partners is providing the subordinated debt.

Brentwood was represented by Greenberg Traurig in conjunction with the transaction. Sundance Catalog was advised by Lazard Middle Market with legal advice from Kaye Scholer.

Leonard Green & Partners and TPG Invest in Savers

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Savers, Inc., a privately-held thrift store chain, today announced that definitive agreements have been executed with Leonard Green & Partners and TPG to recapitalize the company in partnership with Savers’ Chairman Thomas Ellison and the management team. The company’s recapitalization follows a successful six-year partnership with investment firm Freeman Spogli & Co.

Thomas Ellison, son of the company’s founder and a 35-year veteran of Savers, will have an equal ownership position to Leonard Green & Partners and TPG in the company and will continue in his role as Chairman. Ken Alterman will continue to lead the organization as President and CEO.

“Leonard Green & Partners and TPG are among the most experienced retail investors in the industry with strong portfolio companies who have demonstrated excellent results,” said Mr. Alterman. “We are pleased to have chosen like-minded partners who can continue to build on Savers’ history of success in supporting local communities and providing an exciting and value-driven shopping experience for our customers.”

Savers is thrift retailer offering clothing and accessories for men, women and children and household goods under the Savers, Value Village, Village des Valeurs, Unique Thrift Store and Valu Thrift Store brands. Annual revenues are approximately $1 billion. Through its business model of purchasing, reselling and recycling secondhand merchandise, the Savers family of thrift stores benefits more than 140 non-profit organizations, gives local consumers a smart way to shop and saves more than 600 million pounds of quality used goods from landfills each year. Savers has paid more than $1.4 billion to its non-profit partners over the last 10 years, turning otherwise unused items into sustainable funding that supports vital community programs and services. Founded in 1954, Savers operates nearly 290 locations and has more than 17,000 employees across the United States, Canada and Australia (www.savers.com).

“Savers is a leader in the resale industry with strong brand equity, a proven business model and significant potential for global expansion,” said John Danhakl, Managing Partner of Leonard Green & Partners. “We’re excited to partner with Savers’ talented management team and look forward to supporting the next phase of the company’s growth and profitability.”

Moelis & Company and Barclays acted as financial advisors to Savers and Bingham McCutchen served as its legal counsel through the process. Savers also engaged Goldman Sachs Lending Partners, Barclays Bank, Credit Suisse Securities, and Deutsche Bank Securities to act as the joint bookrunners and joint lead arrangers of the senior secured credit facilities.

Leonard Green & Partners’ philosophy is to invest in middle-market companies with market-leading franchises and defensible competitive positions, attractive growth prospects and proven management teams. The firm’s investments are in the form of traditional buyouts, going-private transactions, recapitalizations, growth capital investments, corporate carve-outs and selective public equity and debt positions. Sectors of interest include retail, distribution, healthcare, aerospace/defense and consumer/business services. Leonard Green & Partners was established in 1989 and manages approximately $15 billion of equity capital. The firm is located in Los Angeles, CA (www.leonardgreen.com).

TPG Capital is the global buyout group of TPG, a private investment firm founded in 1992 with approximately $51 billion of assets under management. Sectors of interest include industrials, retail, consumer, financial services, travel and entertainment, technology, media and communications, and healthcare. TPG makes investments throughout North America, Europe, Asia and Australia. The firm has offices in Fort Worth, San Francisco, Beijing, Chongqing, Hong Kong, Houston, London, Luxembourg, Melbourne, Moscow, Mumbai, New York, Paris, Sao Paulo, Shanghai, Singapore and Tokyo (www.tpg.com).