PAI Partners acquires A.S. Adventure group

By

Olivier Guyot

Published
Feb 6, 2015

PAI Partners has just made a new foray into the retail industry. Having invested in 2011 in the group Hunkemöller, which specializes in lingerie in Benelux and Germany, as well as in the Spanish group Cortefiel in 2005, the Paris-based investment fund has just acquired the outdoor retail group A.S. Adventure.

A.S. Adventure is originally a Belgian group that generated some 360 million euros in revenue during its last fiscal year. It consists of the eponymous brand, which is present in Belgium, Luxembourg and France; Bever, present in the Netherlands; and Cotswold Outdoor, based in the UK.

Founded in 1995 by Belgian retail specialist Emiel Lathouwers, son of the founder of the Stock American brand, the group was purchased by Lion Capital in 2008 for 263 million euros.

For the moment, the details of the transaction have remained undisclosed by both PAI Partners and Lion Capital. Last September, a report by Bloomberg evoked Lion Capital ’s indecision as to whether it would take A.S. Adventure public or sell it. The sum indicated at the time was 300 million pounds, or about 380 million euros. 

Still, PAI Partners has stressed that the company’s management, led by Frederic Hufkens, will remain in place and even continue to invest alongside PAI. The group's development strategy, announced in a press release, should involve new store openings, as well as the development of omnichannel and potential acquisitions.