Electra to acquire Hotter shoe company

UK footwear manufacturer and retailer Hotter, is set to be acquired by private equity firm Electra, in an agreement which valued

the shoe company at roughly 200 million pounds.

Hotter previously hired investment bank Rothschild last October to investigate different options for the company, as Stewart Houlgrave, son of the founding family of Hotter was reportedly searching for investment funds to boost Hotter's international and online sales.

The shoe company is back by private equity group Gresham, who first took a 21 million pound minority stake in Hotter in 2007. The acquisition was sealed during the past weekend, after Electra had studied the shoe company's newest Christmas trading reports. Houlgrave and the rest of the company's directorial team is predicted to stay with the company after the deal has been finalized.

Hotter was founded in 1959 and is best known for its stylish, yet comfortable footwear which is mostly produced in its own factory in Lancashire. Hotter sells 1.6 million shoes each year via its mail order catalog, online store and UK stores.