Member Article

Damartex acquires Coopers of Stortford for £25 million

Bingley-based mail order clothes group, Damartex, has completed the acquisition of Coopers of Stortford, a UK based company specialising in multi-channel sales of practical products for the home, health garden, cooking and leisure in a deal worth £25 million.

The cornerstone of the Damartex strategy is the active management of a portfolio of brands dedicated to the senior market (55+), with the Coopers acquisition expected to further strengthen its position on the UK market - where it already has an established presence with the Damart, Afibel and Sedagyl brands.

Founded in 1995 by Neil Cooper, the family-owned Coopers posted sales of £29.6 million in 2012 (an increase of 40% on the previous year) with EBITDA of £3.7 million. Located in Bishop Stortford, north east London, it retails original and practical products, which customers can buy through catalogues (70% of revenues), web (25%) or retail store (5%).

With 160 employees it claims that outstanding customer service has driven rapid recent growth to an established UK customer base of 1.4 million.

The experienced management team will remain in charge of the business, reporting to Andy Hill, Damart managing director.

Damartex plans to keep Coopers as a stand-alone business and has empowered the management team to pursue its own commercial development, while exploiting synergy opportunities arising from the combined organisation.

According to Damartex, its financial strength means that the operation will have a relatively small impact on the level of debt but will have a positive effect on results from the first year.

Argyll Partners and Cavendish Corporate advised on the deal.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by David Gatehouse .