End Clothing considers stake sale, could be worth £700m

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Nov 27, 2020

End Clothing is in talks to sell a stake in the business that could value it at around £700 million, a report said on Friday. It's believed that founders Christiaan Ashworth and John Parker, who launched the high-end contemporary fashion retailer in 2005 after leaving university, have appointed Goldman Sachs to find a new investor.

Sky News said the company, which was launched with just a £40,000 investment, could see private equity firms such as Cinven and General Atlantic Partners taking a major stake.

It would mean big profits for Index Ventures, which invested in the company back in 2014, as well as for the two founders.

It was only this week that it emerged End is planning to increase its womenswear offer and is recruiting to its buying team, with its current focus currently being largely menswear.

The company's latest results, covering the year to the end of March, show that sales rose almost 27% in that 12-month period to £170.5 million. Its pre-tax profit also jumped 17% to almost £32 million, and given that its primary focus is online, there has been speculation that its results could be even better this year, despite the pandemic.

End says that it has partnerships with 500 brands and around 3.6 million active customers.

The report was unclear about whether the founders would want to sell a controlling stake in the business and they’ve made no comment.