Risk Capital Partners, a British private equity firm, has acquired the majority of the shares in the Zoggs Group, as part of a buy-out involving the swimming apparel and equipment brand's management.
Risk Capital Partners acquired the majority of the company from Leo and Daniel Gestetner, who retain a small minority stake in Zoggs, while five of the brand's managers jointly hold a more substantial minority stake.
The deal was arranged in partnership with the team around Mark Hammersley, Zoggs' chief executive. He led the rapid expansion of Zoggs after many years in the industry with brands from Dunlop Slazenger to Reebok and Speedo, where he was international president for five years until 1998. Zoggs' management will remain unchanged as well as the strategy that has helped sales to more than double in the last twelve years. However, the company is expected to have some more resources to expand in international markets, from Europe to the Middle East and Asia.
Leo and Daniel Gestetner, heirs to the family behind the eponymous photocopying business, acquired their majority stake in Zoggs in 2003 and established The Kendal Group (TKG) as an entity to hold interests in sports and leisure brands. Zoggs was the last remaining interest in the group after the sale of Pure Lime to its managers about ten years ago.
Risk Capital Partners, whose current investments are mostly in the food and travel business, describes Zoggs as the leading swim brand in the U.K., with sales of more than 2.5 million pairs of goggles in 50 international markets. The investor points to strong potential in the Far East and Middle East, due to shifting cultural attitudes to swimming across these markets.
Europe, the Middle East and Africa make up about 65 percent of the brand's turnover, while most of the remainder comes from Asia-Pacific and the brand's business in North American is conducted through a license.
While Zoggs Group is based in the U.K., it has subsidiaries in New Zealand and Australia, where the brand was established in 1992. Its general manager in Australia supervises growing distribution in Asia: Zoggs is currently studying a partnership to explore the Chinese market and it has just finalized another tie-up to start selling in Indonesia through the Kanmo Retail Group.
Among the latest moves in Europe, Zoggs signed a partnership last year with Klubben, a distributor covering Norway, Sweden, Finland and Poland, replacing two other partners in Sweden and Norway. At the same time, the company has been broadening its distribution from triathlon and performance swimming stores to sporting goods stores and sometimes even toys stores.
The brand has been expanding with complementary products such as wetsuits, which it started shipping in several European countries this year, but it wants to remain focused on the pool-based swimming market. While Zoggs is strongly established in the market for goggles and learn-to-swim equipment, it intends to seek more growth in the swimwear market.
