Dress for success: American buyout giant tries on Zimmerman for size

afr.com:

Zimmermann is about to hit the catwalk. Street Talk can reveal Advent International, which has a portfolio of retail investments and made a motza backing Lululemon Athletica, has lobbed an unsolicited bid for the Australian fashion powerhouse, founded by Nicky and Simone Zimmermann.

Nicky and Simone Zimmermann founded the brand and remain shareholders, as well as directors. Antoine Doyen

And while a deal’s yet to be signed, it is understood Advent is expected to pay about $1.75 billion for the brand, which had its second-ever show at the Paris Fashion Week and makes about $125 million in earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation.

Zimmermann has Rothschild Australia on hand providing advice, as it did three years ago when Style Capital came into the business as a majority shareholder alongside the Zimmermann sisters.

Sources said both founders and Style Capital were expected to remain part of the business as part of any transaction. Advent is self-advised.

Advent International’s no stranger to upmarket labels. The $US89 billion ($131 billion) buyout firm last month acquired a majority stake in Parfums de Marly and Initio Parfums Prives, snapping up those two fragrance brands for around $US700 million. The firm’s investments are not limited to beauty and fashion – in March, it was linked to the sale of Subway alongside Bain Capital and Goldman Sachs’ asset management arm.

The last time Zimmermann was on the market, in 2020, it was General Atlantic that wanted to exit its minority stake, which the private equity group had acquired in March 2016 for an undisclosed sum in order to support the label’s rollout in North America. At the time, the company was recording annual earnings of between $50 million and