Cath Kidston’s acquisition by Hilco Capital, which is an operating company of financial services firm Hilco Global will see investment firm Baring Private Equity Asia (BPEA) remove its stake in the business.

BPEA, which took full control of Cath Kidston in 2016, struck a pre-pack insolvency deal which entailed the closure of its entire high street estate.

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BPEA, which took full control of the business in 2016, struck a pre-pack insolvency deal in 2020, which included closing all 60 of the company’s UK stores with 900 job losses.

Cath Kidston’s non-executive chair Marty Wikstrom is pleased the Hilco team will commit resources to enable Cath Kidston to accelerate its growth moving forward and describes Hilco’s team as having ‘considerable expertise in branded fashion and consumer businesses’.

She says: “We expect to invest further in ecommerce, and thanks to Holly Marler, who joined the company in 2021 as creative director, our new product ranges are perfectly placed to appeal to both existing and new customers.”

Wikstrom also explains that Brexit followed by the pandemic created a number of challenges for the consumer industry.

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She says: “Thankfully, we have been able to successfully navigate those challenges and, with the help of BPEA, reposition the company for growth. The company’s flagship store in [London’s] Piccadilly is growing rapidly and performing close to pre-pandemic levels, and orders from our International and UK franchisees and wholesale partners grew 40% for the fiscal year ending March 2022.”

Hilco Capital comments: “We have long admired the Cath Kidston brand and are extremely pleased to have been chosen to take the company on the next stage of its journey.”

Cath Kidston was founded in 1993 by Cath Kidston who sold a stake to private equity firm TA Associates about 12 years ago in a deal reportedly worth GBP100m, according to Sky News.