Smythson / Greenwill SA

Cavendish Corporate Finance LLP is pleased to announce the sale of Smythson, the luxury leather goods and bespoke stationery retailer, to Greenwill S.A (”Greenwill”). The financial terms of the deal have not been disclosed.

Smythson, which was founded in 1887 by Frank Smythson, is recognised as one of the world’s premier luxury brands. The company sells a range of stationery, leather goods, diaries and fashion accessories and has a following throughout the world with a customer list which includes several Royal families, heads of state, members of the aristocracy, ”A” list film stars and a long list of other celebrities.

Cavendish has enjoyed a long relationship with Smythson, having earlier advised on its sale to Kelso Place Asset Management and Venrex Investment Management in 2005. Since that time, Smythson has made significant progress, increasing turnover by 59%, expanding retail stores to 15, growing the e-commerce business by 106% and further strengthening the infrastructure. Smythson is on track to achieve sales of £18 million for the financial year to March 2010.

Greenwill is the holding company for Tivoli Group SpA, which is one of the leading luxury leather goods manufacturers in Italy. The company was established in 1973 and supplies leather accessories for numerous global luxury brands. Tivoli Group intends to invest in Smythson as it enters the next stage of its development and will provide the financial support and stability necessary to continue to develop the brand and the business in the long term.

The Smythson management team will remain with the Company post the acquisition.

Cavendish managed a full sale exercise including buyers from around the world, making full use of its international network, and adhering to the client’s specific requirements in terms of potential purchaser and deal structure.

Jonathan Buxton, Cavendish partner who led the deal, commented:

”We are delighted to announce the successful sale of Smythson. We were able to identify a buyer that not only met our client’s pricing requirements, but also provides an excellent platform for the development of the business in the future. This sale is the second time we have sold the business and highlights Cavendish’s expertise in the luxury and consumer goods sector.”

“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