Hedge fund buys Downtown Abbey´s Savile Row tailors

Huntsman, the Savile Row tailors that became seriously famous for making the white tie outfits for Hugh Bonneville’s Lord Grantham character in Downton Abbey, has been sold to Belgian hedge fund. Huntsmanis being taken over by Belgian-born

financier Pierre Lagrange and Bond Street couture star Roubi L’Roubi, reported ‘The Standard’ on Wednesday. Private investors have owned Huntsman since 2005.

The veteran tailoring business is over 160 years old and can be found at 11 Savile Row. The business, which has a joint venture with Alexander McQueen, is one of the biggest names in the famous tailoring street, stressed sources close to the company.

L’Roubi will be creative director and co-owner of Huntsman and will work with the current team. In declarations to London press, the designer said he will use his womenswear experience to expand Huntsman’s collections. His Mayfair couture business is expected to be merged with the Huntsman label, ‘The Standard’ advanced.

Lagrange is worth an estimated £120 million. He co-founded the GLG hedge fund, which was criticised for short-selling shares in Bradford & Bingley in 2008. He became a director of Mr L’Roubi’s company Asked For Designs in 2011.

The price is undisclosed yet the latest accounts show the company had net assets of almost 1.1 million pounds in 2011, published ‘The Telegraph’. The paper also reminded that Lagrange was pivotal in the sale of GLG to listed hedge fund group Man in October 2010 for 1 billion pounds. In December 2012, Mr L’Roubi became the Co-Owner and Creative Director of Huntsman, the iconic Savile Row brand.