Recently, British men’s clothing retailer TM Lewin announced that it will enter administration and close all 66 of its stores, which will result in the loss of nearly a thousand jobs.
Private equity fund SCP acquired from Bain Capital through its investment arm Torque Brands Acquired British menswear retailer TM Lewin. Specific financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.
TM Lewin has been struggling after the company was forced to close all of its physical stores during the coronavirus lockdown in March. Move to online-only mode. In mid-June, all UK markets were opened and lockdown rules were relaxed, allowing non-essential retailers to reopen with social distancing measures in place. However, due to the huge adverse impact on the retail business for a long time, TM Lewin, which had been on the verge of collapse, collapsed.
Earlier, the 122-year-old retailer was acquired by Stonebridge Private Equity through Torque Brands. Torque Brands plans to build a portfolio of 5-8 brands over the next 12-18 months.
The new boss said on Tuesday: “The entire retail industry faces very real threats. The Torque team have worked hard to assess all available avenues for future business models, but in doing so, TM Lewin It is no longer a viable way to do business at the moment. The decision to significantly reduce the size of the business in order to safeguard the future of the brand will regrettably result in redundancies at TM Lewin as a direct result of the closure of our store network as we rightly scale the business.”
Torque Brands is a vehicle set up by private equity firm SCP, which acquired TM Lewin for an undisclosed sum last month, a move that led to the retailer’s CEO Sven Gaede resigned.
Resolve, which was hired to reorganize the retailer, said in a statement: “At a time of unprecedented uncertainty in the retail industry, this acquisition secures the future of the brand. After a significant amount of Due to scrutiny and due to the many issues currently experienced by fashion retailers, it has been determined that the future of the TM Lewin brand will be online only.”
SCP currently manages over $800 million in funds , mainly investing in information technology, life sciences, service industry and security industry. James Cox, founder of SCP, said: “We will continue to promote TM Lewin’s globalization strategy based on the excellent work of Bain Capital. We believe that such an outstanding British brand still has high value in the eyes of global consumers. The retail market at this stage is full of challenges. We have planned for the future and will build Torque Brands into a centralized shared service platform and acquire a series of complementary British brands in the future to provide a strong support for their development. Support.”
Cox also said that one of TM Lewin’s current advantages is its high online sales ratio. In fiscal year 2020, 30% of TM Lewin’s sales came from online channels.
Brad Palmer, investment manager at Bain Capital, said: “We have been supporting TM Lewin since 2015. With the joint efforts of both parties, TM Lewin already has a Multi-channel business spanning online and offline and a large number of loyal consumers.”
According to reports, TM Lewin will continue to trade online but said he cannot afford the store’s rent and other expenses. The coronavirus pandemic has forced it to focus on overhauling its business model. At least 650 of TM Lewin’s 700 staff have been furloughed under the government’s coronavirus job retention scheme. It is worth mentioning that TM Lewin had previously warned landlords that if rent reductions were not granted in mid-June, stores would be closed.
Public information shows: The London-based menswear retailer was founded in 1898 and now trades in 66 UK stores, employs 700 people and has operations in Australia. 5 branches. In the 2019 financial year ended in February 2019, TM Lewin’s EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) was 6.5 million pounds, but in the 2020 financial year ended in February this year, EBITDA has fallen to less than £4 million on sales of £120 million. TM Lewin’s brand values focus on craftsmanship and detail. The company’s online sales are growing rapidly and totaled more than 30% of the group’s revenue last year. TM Lewin originally manufactured shirts but now sells men’s suits, coats, knitwear, jackets, chinos, ties and accessories. </p
