Palamon Capital Partners acquires majority stake in Happy Socks
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London - Swedish sock brand Happy Socks has a new owner as Palamon Capital Partners has acquired a majority stake in the brand.
The private equity firm announced on Monday that it had acquired a stake in Happy Socks from Scope Growth III in a transaction, which values the brand at 725 million SEK (81 million dollars, 67 million pounds). In addition, Palamon also invested SEK 40 million (4.5 million dollars, 3.6 million pounds) in Happy Socks to support the brands ongoing expansion.
"Happy Socks is a phenomenal company with a very distinctive brand DNA that resonates with consumers around the world," said Ali Rahmatollahi, Partner of Palamon Capital Partners in a statement. "Palamon’s investment stems from the Firm’s ongoing effort to identify well-positioned European specialty retail brands with strong growth potential in a global market."
Happy Socks was founded in 2008 by Mikael Söderlindh and Victor Tell, who aimed to transform the everyday essential into a happy, colourful design item. Since then the brand has grown into a globally recognised brand, sold in over 90 countries across the globe. Following the acquistion Happy Socks founders are set to remain "actively involved in the company" according to a statement from Palamon.
"We are delighted to be investing in Happy Socks, the original fashion sock brand offering high-quality socks for every occasion, mindset and style," continued Ricardo Caupers, Partner of Palamon Capital Partners. "We are thrilled to partner with founders Mikael Söderlindh and Victor Tell and look forward to supporting Happy Socks in fulfilling its global growth potential."
Over the past three years, Happy Socks has achieved more than a 50 percent revenue and EBITDA in annual growth, generating retail sales of 100 million euros in 2016. "In the last two years Happy Socks has grown beyond our expectations," added Mikael Söderlindh, Co-Founder of Happy Socks.
"We have transformed the company into a real growth engine by strengthening our operational platform and our global presence. We have achieved the best of both worlds by securing a strong new partner in Palamon and remaining significant owners in a great business that we will continue to build in the years to come."
Photo: By Edward Hands (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0 ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], via Wikimedia Commons