Hunter Boot, the royal warrant-holding footwear model, is near touchdown a multimillion pound funding lifeline that might pave the way in which for an outright sale.
Sky News has learnt that Hunter is nearing a deal that may see present shareholders injecting £5m, with lenders contributing an additional £2m.
The financing, which is predicted to be finalised imminently, comes amid separate talks a few sale of the corporate.
Hunter, whose boots have usually been seen adorning festival-going celebrities comparable to Kate Moss and the Princess of Wales, is working with AlixPartners on the public sale.
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One supply near the state of affairs mentioned on Sunday: “Hunter is a great business, and this financing sets it up well to capture the opportunities available in the year ahead.”
The firm was saved in 2020 by means of a £16.5m capital injection, a part of which got here from Pall Mall Legacy, a fund backed by Goldman Sachs and Three Hills Capital Partners, an present shareholder.
Pall Mall Legacy owns the vast majority of Hunter’s shares, with Searchlight Capital Partners, a non-public fairness agency, and Pentland Group, the sportswear large behind manufacturers comparable to Speedo, holding the rest.
Hunter, which was based in 1856 because the North British Rubber Company, is known to have seen a post-COVID rebound in gross sales, with income in China accounting for a piece of that current progress.
Hunter is one in every of Britain’s most outstanding footwear manufacturers, and is one in every of solely 10 firms to carry two royal warrants – one in every of which was issued by Queen Elizabeth II.
The enterprise registered file gross sales in 2018, however noticed its US enterprise expertise sharp gross sales declines within the closing quarter of final 12 months earlier than being hit by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The cancellation of stay leisure occasions and music festivals comparable to Glastonbury has had a very extreme impression on Hunter, which has long-been related to celebrities comparable to Moss.
Hunter was traditionally dominated by gross sales of Wellington boots, however has more and more diversified right into a broader array of life-style merchandise.
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It has exited its retail retailer portfolio comparable to its former flagship on London’s Regent Street aside from a web site at Bicester Village and Woodbury in New York.
A spokesman for Hunter declined to remark.
Source: information.sky.com”