Australian sportswear retail chain, 2XU has secured a 40 per cent investment by a partnership of two private equity firms.
Lazard Australia Private Equity has teamed up with L Capital Asia 2, a private equity fund sponsored by LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton S.A. (LVMH), Groupe Arnault and YTL Corporation Berhard for the 40 per cent acquisition. The brand’s founders also remain shareholders.
2XU is performance sports brand known for its use of cutting edge fabrics and technology to enhance sports performance and recovery. Its products are used by elite athletes around the world including the Australian Institute of Sport, as well as NBA and NFL stars in North America.
Founded in Melbourne in 2005, 2XU has a global distribution network covering more than 50 countries. In the past five years it has seen revenue growth of more than 40 per cent a year per annum.
2XU executive chairman and co-founder, Clyde Davenport, said he was thrilled to have L Capital Asia as a partner.
“We believe that its experienced international team will accelerate us towards our goal of becoming Australia’s first major global sportswear brand.”
Managing partner of L Capital Asia, Ravi Thakran, agreed, calling it an exciting journey.
“2XU signifies a winning proposition of best in class product preferred by pros across varied sports, with design and innovation rooted in Australia, one of the world’s most active countries, coupled with an extremely passionate and driven management team.
“We firmly believe that the combination of this strong proposition, with our unique approach to performance enhancement across our portfolio companies will help the brand in achieving its full potential as a strong, globally recognised performance sportswear brand,” said Thakran.
Director of Lazard Private Equity, Gareth Young, said “Lazard Private Equity has enjoyed a successful partnership with 2XU since 2011 during which time the business has doubled its turnover, profit and been highly cash generative.
“This transaction delivers to our Fund 2 investors a money multiple return and IRR in excess of 2x and 50 per cent respectively. We selected L Capital Asia as a like-minded and value-adding partner which can strengthen 2XU’s global growth plan.”
