London, 8 July 2013: Metric Capital Partners (“MCP”), the European private capital group, has announced today the completion of its investment in Change of Scandinavia (“Change”, the “Company”), a leading Nordic player in the lingerie and apparel segment.
Headquartered in Farum, Denmark, Change is strongly positioned as the market leader in the specialty lingerie segment in the Nordic countries with a strong focus on comfort, value for money, in-store service levels and large product offering with over 100 custom sizes.The Company was established in 1995 by Claus Jensen, its current CEO and lead shareholder. Following the opening of its first concept store in Copenhagen in 2001, Change has since enjoyed a strong and steady growth path.
Change benefits from a vertically integrated value chain and distributes its products mainly via a network of over 160 mono-brand stores in Europe, North America and the Far East as well as through a growing online presence. The Company also enjoys a loyal customer base with over one million members in its loyalty scheme (Club Change) with over 10,000 new joiners each month.
MCP’s investment, through a credit instrument with equity participation, supports the optimization of the Company’s ownership structure and prepares it for its next phase of growth. Over the coming months Change will look to further consolidate its presence in some of its key markets as well as boosting its international ambitions.
Giovanni Miele, Partner of MCP, commented: “We are delighted to be partnering with such an experienced and driven management team. The Company is optimally placed to grow its international footprint thanks to its customer and value focused approach. This transaction is consistent with our investment philosophy, given the strong downside protection in our investment coupled with the opportunity to generate attractive equity-like returns”.
John Sinik, Managing Partner of MCP, further commented on the transaction: “This transaction further demonstrates the strong momentum for MCP, with eight completed investments since April 2012. Moreover, our
pipeline of actionable opportunities appears to be very strong as healthy European mid-market companies continue to experience funding challenges due to the lack of traditional financing sources”.