Smythson of Bond Street, the high-end British leather goods business, has been acquired from Jacques Bahbout’s Tivoli Group by Oakley Capital, a pan-European, mid-market private equity investor. The purchase price wasn’t disclosed.
The company said it “marks an exciting new chapter in Smythson’s 137-year history of British craftsmanship. Following years of strengthening the brand’s foundation and securing its current position, Smythson’s partnership with Oakley will help to accelerate growth and expand brand presence”.
The luxury business has become part of Iconic BrandCo, Oakley’s vehicle for luxury, heritage brands, which includes “complementary” labels such as Italian homewares company Alessi, British luxury luggage specialist Globe-Trotter, and British high-end leather goods and apparel brand Connolly, in which Oakley invested only in 2024.
Iconic BrandCo also has investments in Fornasetti and Fabbrica Pelletterie Milano.
The new owner said the label will “benefit from Oakley’s proven value-creation strategies and expertise in accelerating international expansion, digitising operations, enhancing brand positioning and digital marketing. Smythson will leverage this investment to prioritise global growth, with a specific focus on the US, Japanese and European markets, whilst continuing to strengthen the UK home market”.
It will take a multi-channel approach to “drive growth, expand global distribution, develop international franchise agreements, and launch innovative brand activations and collaborations”.
A few months ago, Smythson filed its accounts for the year to March 2024 and said that turnover for the business increased to £27.26 million from £23.65 million while gross profit rose to almost £19.6 million from just over £16 million. The operating result was still a loss, but a smaller one at £5.9 million compared to £6.9 million the year before. The loss both before and after tax was also down at £6.6 million from a negative £7.3 million a year earlier.
The company, which also closed its New Bond Street store during that financial year, did say in the accounts filing that business was improving. Oakley clearly agrees and sees potential in it.
Smythson’s CEO Paolo Porta said: “We look forward to working closely with Oakley’s Iconic Brands group to realise the full potential of Smythson as an exceptional British brand. We will leverage Oakley’s expertise in international expansion and brand positioning, whilst continuing to honour the legacy of this beloved heritage brand. All of us at Smythson would like to extend our thanks and admiration to Jacques Bahbout and the Tivoli Group for their leadership and support in recent years, and for enabling us to reinforce Smythson’s foundations. We look forward to continuing our longstanding production partnership with Tivoli Group across our leather business.”
And Oakley Capital co-Founder and CEO Peter Dubens added: “Heritage brands cannot be created overnight: it can take decades or longer to build a loyal customer base through the application of high-quality craftsmanship, product innovation and marketing excellence. We are lucky to be able to welcome Smythson to Oakley.”
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