Permira to buy German fashion retailer Schustermann & Borenstein

European private equity firm Permira yesterday struck a deal to buy German fashion retailer and exporter Schustermann & Borenstein (S&B) from French buyout firm Ardian, for a reported €700 million to €800 million.

The two founding families of Schustermann and Borenstein will retain minority interest in the company.

Ardian had acquired family-owned S&B in 2012 for around €300 million.

Founded in 1924, Munich-based S&B sells more than 3,000 designer brands through its website BestSecret.com as well as three stores in Munich and Vienna.

Over the past 10 years, S&B has become the leading premium fashion e-commerce platform in the DACH region while also expanding in the UK, Sweden and France.

In 2015, S&B generated revenues of €300 million and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) of €55 million.

''As a market leader, we are ideally positioned to continue benefitting from the key growth drivers in e-commerce ……… As one of the largest consumer and technology investors in Europe with a proven track-record in successfully transforming businesses alongside family investors they are the ideal partner to support our future expansion plans,'' said Daniel Schustermann, managing mirector of S&B.

''Schustermann & Borenstein has a very exciting and market-leading business model which combines exclusive fashion retail with e-commerce and has huge growth potential. We will bring our extensive knowledge of brands, e-commerce and technology to help the company achieve further expansion in the years ahead,'' said, Cheryl Potter, head of the consumer team at Permira.

The acquisition is expected to close in Q4 2016.