Robert Dyas / Theo Paphitis

Cavendish is delighted to announce that the sale of Robert Dyas to Theo Paphitis completed earlier today. Originally established as an ironmonger some 140 years ago, Robert Dyas is one of the UK’s best loved retail brands, now selling kitchenware, DIY, gardening, home office products and small domestic appliances. There are 97 stores around the UK, mostly located in high street locations and over 1,000 staff.

Theo Paphitis is a well-known UK business personality and a star of the Dragons’ Den television series. Amongst a number of other business interests, Theo is currently chairman of the Ryman stationery chain, a convenience retail operator with a number of similarities to Robert Dyas.

Since a debt for equity restructuring of Robert Dyas in 2009, the majority shareholders of Robert Dyas have been Allied Irish Banks, p.l.c. and Lloyds Banking Group Plc. Cavendish was appointed in 2010 to carry out a full exit review of the business, using its unique in-house exit review practice to position the business for sale and identify any potential due diligence issues at an early stage. Subsequently, in September 2011 Cavendish was appointed by the equity shareholders, debt holders and the Company’s board of directors to sell the business, working with its international partner offices to bring several non-UK purchasers into the process.

The current Chief Executive, Graham Coles, will stay in his position along with other members of the Robert Dyas Board.

The sale of Robert Dyas is the latest in a number of well-known retailers advised by Cavendish, with previous mandates including: Liberty, Phase Eight, Donald Russell, Etam, Myla and Watches of Switzerland.

Jonathan Buxton, partner and head of the Cavendish consumer group, commented: “From the outset, Theo Paphitis showed an understanding of Robert Dyas and an appreciation of the potential of the brand. The Cavendish team are very pleased to see that a business and management team we have worked with over an extended period of time has found such a supportive home.

“Thank you very much to the Cavendish team for all of your help and advice on this transaction. We are not sure how would have got to the end without you and you had an ability to find a mid-ground where both sides were happy – this certainly takes some skill.

Thank you for all of your hard work and we would not hesitate in recommending you and your services to anyone else.”

Martin Brown, Founder and majority shareholder of Wine-Searcher

“The Cavendish team, led by Lord Leigh of Hurley and Rebecca McCredie has done a fantastic job in managing the transaction with great skill. They were crucial in delivering this deal and its successful outcome – many thanks to the whole team.”

Johnny Goedhuis, Chairman of Goedhuis Waddesdon Limited

“In completing this transaction, we wanted to ensure that the growth and success of the business that we have built to date is the foundation for further expansion in the years to come. We are delighted with the outcome and we would like to thank the team at finnCap Cavendish for all of their help throughout this process. They are experts at advising founders and entrepreneurs and they provided us with invaluable advice and guidance throughout.”

Hugo Douglas-Pennant and Martyn Bell, co-founders of Bramblecrest

“We are delighted to be partnering with Rockpool. This transaction will enable us to accelerate our long-term growth objectives and help expand our international presence, especially in the US. Karri and Amy achieved a fantastic result for us and their ecommerce sector expertise, professionalism and unwavering dedication throughout the process were instrumental in achieving a successful completion.”

Nick Comer, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder at Rosetta Brands

“We are immensely grateful for the hard work and expertise we received from finnCap in securing this fundraise. Zuleika’s knowledge and communication skills were outstanding. It is the first time we have raised external funds so we were heavily reliant on their introductions, all of which were a good fit for Ro&Zo. Zuleika’s guidance through the process was exemplary. We are delighted to have chosen Pembroke as our new shareholders and look forward to a long relationship with them as we continue our growth strategy.”

Rachel Heather, CEO and Co-Founder, Ro&Zo

“On behalf of all of the shareholders at Peach, a huge thank you to the team at finnCap Cavendish – they have done a great job. With the unprecedented macro back-drop that we have all been experiencing, we needed an adviser who was thoughtful, tenacious and prepared to go the extra mile. We got of all this in spades from the finnCap Cavendish team and it has been a pleasure to work with them. We would not hesitate to recommend them to other business founders and entrepreneurs who are in need of experience-led judgement and advice.”

Hamish Stoddart, co-founder & CEO, Peach Pubs

“I would also like to thank the team at finnCap Cavendish. They have done a great job in finding us the right buyer and running a smart and efficient process. Their support throughout has been excellent and combined with their commercial approach and sector knowledge, they have made great advisers for us.”

Morgan Davies, Founder of Barburrito

“Joe Stelzer and his team at finnCap Cavendish were the perfect partners as we navigated this exciting next step for the group. The firm’s wealth of expertise in advising entrepreneurial growth businesses, partnered with their quality of service and professionalism was invaluable and helped make this deal function as smoothly as possible.”

Charles Barnett, Managing Director & Founder, Lyco Group

“This transaction is huge for our business as we look to continue our growth journey. We’re very excited to have raised enough capital from a leading impact investor to expand our market-leading position and maintain standards of excellence across all our products. We’re hugely grateful to the team at finnCap, who played a fundamental role, in what we hope, will be a very exciting growth story.”

Ben Wigley, CEO, Big Green Smile

“I would like to thank all of those involved in the process that has concluded with us ultimately choosing Neighborly as our partner going forward, those at finnCap Cavendish and our CFO Mike Bergin, without whom this would have not happened.”

Scott Mullins, President and CEO of Pimlico Plumbers