MATCHESFASHION owner injects £60m to fund turnaround plan

Apax Partners, the private equity backer of MATCHESFASHION, has agreed to invest £40m of equity and £20m of additional debt into the luxury online retailer to fund a turnaround plan.

As well as the extra funds, MATCHESFASHION, which stocks a raft of luxury brands including Gucci, Prada and Valentino, is also said to have secured covenant waivers and extensions with all of its lenders.

The additional financing showcases Apax's challenges since acquiring Matchesfashion in 2017 and its confidence in new CEO Nick Beighton's turnaround plan.

The former ASOS boss was appointed in July 2022. During his time at ASOS Beighton helped grow the online retailer from £178m in revenues and 150 people when he started in 2009 (he was first CFO and became CEO in 2015) to £3.9bn in revenues and 15,000 people when he left in October 2021.

A spokeswoman for the company told SkyNews: "Our trading performance has been very strong in recent months and we are well-positioned as a business, having significantly strengthened our top team.

"Now, with additional financial support from Apax Funds, we are well-placed to continue to drive our turnaround plan and deliver long-term commercial success."

MATCHESFASHION has already seen positive results under Beighton. The Christmas period saw the online retailer’s order demand up by 15% as well as its biggest-ever trading day, which was up 35% year-on-year.

The company also recently appointed Carl Tallents as Chief Commercial Officer in September 2022. He joined the luxury retailer in December from Frasers Group, where he had been the group head of luxury brands.