Office owner Silverfleet brings in advisers to explore £300m sale or a float
Silverfleet, the private equity firm which owns high street shoe retailer Office, has brought in advisers to explore the sale or float of the company.
Office was bought by Silverfleet for £150m in 2010 from Scottish billionaire Sir Tom Hunter’s West Coast Capital, but could now be worth as much as £300m, according to the Telegraph, which first reported that Office had brought in JP Morgan to advise.
The company recently began opening stores in Germany, its first move overseas in its 33-year history, with stores in Oberhausen, Dusseldorf, Bonn and Hamburg since the start of 2014.
Office’s 108 standalone stores and 52 concessions, in places such as Selfridges, Harvey Nichols and Topshop, generated a five per cent increase in turnover, to £256m, during the past year.
However, it saw difficult trading conditions in the spring which led to a dip in full-year profits to £34m.