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Hunter Boots lines up £7m funding to pave the way for outright sale

Chloe Burney
13 February 2023

Royal warrant holder Hunter Boots is lining up £5 million from existing shareholders and £2 million from lenders as it moves towards the sale of the company.

The footwear brand, renowned for its wellington boots that became the uniform for British festival goers in the early 2000s, is close to securing a multimillion-pound funding lifeline that could pave the way for an outright sale of the company.

Hunter is working with AlixPartners on the £7 million financing, which comes amid separate talks about a sale of the company. No further details have been reported.

The company is one of only 10 companies to hold two royal warrants, one of which was issued by the late Queen Elizabeth II.

A source told Sky News: "Hunter is a great business, and this financing sets it up well to capture the opportunities available in the year ahead."

The company was saved in 2020 through a £16.5 million capital injection, part of which came from Pall Mall Legacy, a fund backed by existing shareholders Goldman Sachs and Three Hills Capital Partners.

Pall Mall Legacy owns the majority of Hunter's shares, alongside Searchlight Capital Partners, a private equity firm, and Speedo’s owner Pentland Group. 1856-founded Hunter, which was originally named North British Rubber Company, has seen a successful post-COVID sales rebound.

The cancellation of live events and music festivals during COVID had a particularly severe impact on Hunter, which has long been associated with celebrity festival-goers such as Kate Moss. The company has closed its former flagship on London's Regent Street. The only remaining brick-and-mortar stores are at outlets Bicester Village and Woodbury in New York.

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