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Lossmaking British luxury brand Smythson, best known for its leather goods and stationery, has been offloaded to a private equity firm by its longtime owner.
The brand, which started life in 1887 when Frank Smythson opened his first store on London’s New Bond Street, has been bought by Oakley Capital for an undisclosed sum.
The change in ownership comes almost 16 years after it was bought by Italy’s Tivoli Group. It has struggled to recover from a slump in demand for luxury goods in recent years, which culminated with Smythson closing its flagship store on New Bond Street last year.
The group, which sells weekly diaries for £185 and greeting cards for £13, posted losses before tax of £6.7mn for the year to March 31 2024, on sales of £28.5mn — a slight improvement on its losses before tax of £8mn for the previous year.
Oakley Capital announced the Smythson deal on Tuesday alongside acquisitions of Italian home furnishings brand Fornasetti and Fabbrica Pelletterie Milano, a producer of Italian leather goods and travel accessories.
The acquisitions have been made by Iconic BrandCo, an Oakley investment vehicle. Oakley said its indirect contribution to the deals is anticipated to be £15mn.
Smythson managed to report a 4.6 per cent increase in like-for-like sales, compared with the previous year, despite identifying several challenges, such as high inflation and weak footfall in department stores, which hurt its wholesale business.
It added that its strategy was to focus on “refining its retail network, exiting non-profitable stores” and keeping a lid on costs as it expanded in key markets.
Smythson, which produced stationery for Winston Churchill and members of the royal family, is one of only seven brands globally to hold two royal warrants.
The company said on Tuesday that Oakley Capital, which also backed British luggage maker Globe-Trotter and high-end leather goods and apparel brand Connolly, will help to accelerate growth and expand the brand.
Oakley co-founder and chief executive Peter Dubens said “heritage brands cannot be created overnight” and they were “lucky to be able to welcome Smythson to Oakley”.
