L Capital to sell Groupe SMCP for 600 million

Fashion

After having the industry talking for weeks about a potential sale, L Capital, the investment vehicle of LVMH, has put up for sale Groupe SMCP, which owns Sandro, Maje and Claudie Pierlot. LVMH invested in the group three years ago and

now has hired Rothschild and JP Morgan to sell a string of its fastest-growing fashion brands for about 600 million euros.

According

to the French financial journal ‘Boursier’, despite the amount that L Capital has put on Group SMCP in these three years is still undisclosed, this seems to be a brief yet profitable relationship that already gave the shareholders capital gains.

Reportedly, L Capital is looking to sell its 51 percent stake in Groupe SMCP for about 600 million euros. Groupe SMCP is part-controlled by Florac, the family office of Marie-Jeanne Meyer, a member of the Louis Dreyfus family, reported ‘The Telegraph’.

For L Capital, the sale will further cement its position as an increasingly important driver of growth within LVMH, as stresses by the French press. Its mandate is to look for divisions that are too small, too alternative or do not have enough of a luxury positioning for a main LVMH group acquisition. Its portfolio also includes Gant, Pepe Jeans (12 percent) and Hackett Group.

As suggested to sources familiar with the operation quoted by diverse French papers, and echoed by 'The Telegraph', Groupe SMCP has been linked so far with possible bids for Christian Louboutin shoes, lingerie maker La Perla and high-end linen brand, Frette.