New & Lingwood / POP Capital

Cavendish Corporate Finance, the UK’s leading sell-side mid-market M&A firm, has advised on the sale of New & Lingwood, the 150-year-old luxury Jermyn Street menswear brand, to POP Capital, the US-based private equity firm specialising in luxury brands, for an undisclosed sum.

POP Capital will become the new custodians of the New & Lingwood stable of brands, which includes Bowring Arundel, Poulsen Skone, and WV Brown, and will lead the company in an exciting new growth phase.

New & Lingwood was founded in 1865 to serve as outfitters for the boys of Eton College, the famous English public school, and the company’s main store, which opened in Jermyn Street in 1922, has become an integral part of this iconic menswear destination. With an assortment of products that range from the conservative to the eccentric, New & Lingwood supplies bespoke and ready-made shirts, suits, hosiery and shoes of the highest quality, to name a few. It has the reputation of serving gentlemen of refinement and good taste including Old Etonians, Princes, Prime Ministers, Presidents, Pop Stars and sartorial men the world over.

Anthony Spitz has led the company for many years and will remain as chairman of the operating company, supporting the new global expansion strategy. Mr. Spitz’s family interests will maintain a minority stake in the new holding company.

Cavendish Corporate Finance, which advised New & Lingwood on the sale, has a wealth of experience in the retail and luxury goods sector. Recent high profile transactions include advising on the sales of Silver Cross, Naked Wines, Liberty, Princess Yachts, Watches of Switzerland, Mappin & Webb, Theo Fennell, Smythson and Scott Dunn luxury travel.

Jonathan Buxton, Partner and head of the consumer team at Cavendish Corporate Finance, who led on the deal, commented:

“There has probably never been a better time to sell a UK luxury business and this deal illustrates the strong appetite that overseas buyers, particularly from Asia and the US, have for leading UK heritage brands, which have the quality and cachet to appeal to a global customer base. Premier UK luxury goods brands can command very high prices and there is an increasing range of potential buyers keen to unlock the significant value in these companies by driving efficiencies and accelerating their expansion. Cavendish’s experience with leading luxury and consumer brands enables us to help clients achieve the best possible prices and given the strong demand for such businesses we anticipate a number of such transactions in 2016.”

“In October 1991 Howard Leigh, now Lord Leigh of Hurley, then at the early stages of his august career at Cavendish, sold the now 150 year old iconic and world renowned Jermyn Street and Eton menswear business to my family and associates. More recently Jonathan Buxton, who looks after consumer brands at Cavendish, acting for my family and the other New & Lingwood shareholders, sold the now 150 year old iconic New & Lingwood business to POP Capital, a dynamic and highly experienced luxury brand investor. My family retained a substantial investment in the new holding company, believing deeply in the future of New & Lingwood under the POP ownership.

Over the years we have had numerous suitors, but the wise guidance of Jonathan and Howard at Cavendish, surely the most astute of advisors for the selling of luxury businesses, has always been there to help us determine the most fitting acquirers. Their understanding of my belief, that to own New & Lingwood, is only a temporary curatorship of this unique company, and their appreciation of the psychological pride of this curatorship, puts Cavendish in a class of its own. This requires a special brand of understanding, rarely found today in the relationship between a seller and his advisor. What we have NOT sold, and which has no price that can be quantified, is the deep and far-reaching friendships that I have gained through my association with Howard and Jonathan.”

Anthony Spitz, Chairman of New & Lingwood