A history of gold? The fund Bridgepoint entered into Friday night to Saturday two agreements to buy the first two channels simultaneously French jeweler midrange, Histoire d'Or and Marc Orian.
If successful, a priori, in October, the transaction remains subject to the advice of two councils and the approval of competition authorities, would bring the delicious result of two brands created by successive Sylvain Krief in the 1980s, and whose networks are geographically complementary.
Histoire d'Or, owned since 2006 to fund Silverfleet Capital, has 200 stores, almost all located in shopping malls on the outskirts of cities. The company is dynamic. Its turnover amounted to 220 million euros in 2009, up 1.1%. In France, its network of stores has almost doubled in size in four years.Elsewhere in Europe, the brand has established in Belgium and Italy. History Gold was also launched in 2007 teaches J'M (six stores), on the same niche, but more likely.
Good mid-range resistance
Located also in the malls, Marc Orian Group operates its side a network of more than 250 stores under the Treasury and Marc Orian, and annual sales of around EUR 130 million cash advance loans. The company is owned since 2006 by QUALIUM (formerly CDC Capital Investissement) who bought from Crédit Agricole Private Equity.
The combination of these signs would create a network of over 450 shops for a turnover of around 450 million euros. It has been several years that the funds eyeing the jewelry chains midrange.The sector has grown steadily against the current of a market down 2% last year, mainly at the expense of traditional jewelry stores downtown.
Bridgepoint could benefit from his position of arch-leader to refine the positioning of its various networks, optimize purchasing and address the heart of market towns by launching a new concept.
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