- Angela Gonzalez-Rodriguez
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New York – Maurices, the US-based womenswear chain, will be
changing hands soon. The fashion retailer is said to be bought by
European private equity firm OpCapita, putting an end to Ascena
Group’s 14-year ownership.
OpCapita announced earlier this week it will acquire a majority
stake in the women’s apparel retailer, thus ending 14 years of
ownership by Ascena Retail Group.
Maurices CEO George Goldfarb commented on the news saying in a
statement that “Our vision remains the same — we will continue to do
what is best for our brand, our culture and our business. We will do
that with new ownership who will bring us fresh perspectives,
capabilities and focus.”
Sources close to the matter expect the 300 million dollars deal to
close this summer
OpCapita, based in London and founded in 2006, is invested in
several European businesses, not all of them retailers. It recently
sold the German discount clothing giant NKD, which has 1,800 stores,
after what OpCapita describes as a “successful turnaround.” The
investment firm will be looking for a similar story at Maurices, its
first investment in an American business. In this regard, the
investment firm’s CEO Henry Jackson said in a corporate release “We
believe there is a real opportunity to increase the profitability of
Maurices through hands-on operational improvement.”
As part of the new management, Maurices will count on the former
president of the Gap brand and a longtime leader at Old Navy, Jeff
Kirwan, who will be brought on as executive chairman to help boost
sales.
Photo:Maurices commercial website
