The Very Group is set to receive £125m of funding from US and Middle East private equity firms, as it swings to a half-year loss.
The online retail group, owned by the Barclay family, will be given £85m from Carlyle and a further £40m from Abu Dhabi-based IMI, with both private equity houses taking a seat on the retailer’s board.
It comes as the group unveiled a half-year pre-tax loss of £2m, down from £2.1m profit the year before, which it said was down to higher interest costs. On a pre-exceptional EBITDA level, profits jumped 10.1% to £130.7m.
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Total sales edged up 0.6% to £1.22bn, with Very UK sales – which represent 86% of revenue – edging up 2.7%. Littlewoods revenue declined 12.5%, which it said was in line with expectations as it continued its “managed decline” strategy for the brand.
Very revealed that chair Dirk Van den Berghe had stepped down and although it was searching for a replacement, a representative of the Barclay family, Aidan Barclay, will take up the post on an interim basis.
Barclay said: “Carlyle and IMI provide the support of two long-term, experienced institutional sponsors that understand our business extremely well. Their commitment underlines the confidence they have in the group, and their contribution to the board will be invaluable as we look to the future.”
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