Cavendish

Cavendish Advises on Sale of Mappin & Webb and Watches of Switzerland

Cavendish Corporate Finance, the UK's leading independent specialist advisor to vendors of businesses, has sold the MW Group, which comprises the 18-store Mappin & Webb and the 14-store Watches of Switzerland businesses. The Group is the UK's leading retailer of luxury watches, fine jewellery, silver and giftware.

The business was sold to Baugur, the Icelandic investment house, who own Goldsmiths, one of the UK's largest jewellery and watch retailers. The exiting shareholders included a leading private equity house, European Acquisition Capital and management.

The MW Group had sales of almost £76 million and an EBITDA of £2.0 million for the year ended 31 March 2005. The sale price achieved by Cavendish was £25.5 million.

Mappin & Webb has two royal warrants, as silversmith to the Queen and the Prince of Wales and specialises in luxury goods such as Georg Jensen jewellery and watches including Jaeger Le-Coultre, Patek Philippe and Rolex.

Watches of Switzerland has a unique position in the UK market and an international reputation as a leading retailer of prestige and luxury Swiss watches.

Nick Evans, Chief Executive of MW Group, commented after the transaction: ''Cavendish have done an excellent job of managing the auction, delivering a complex sale and maximising value. The team laid out the timeline and were able to complete each stage on time and maintain the impetus. I would be very happy to recommend them and to work with them again in the future".

[Hugo Haddon-Grant], Managing Director of Cavendish, said: ''Cavendish's considerable experience in the luxury retail sector (which includes the sale of Smythson, the luxury stationers) helped us to understand the dynamics of the sector and the issues within the business.''

[Paul Herman], Director of Retail who led the transaction commented: ''From the outset, we believed that it was very important to introduce a number of international buyers (both corporate and high net worth individuals) who had the necessary resource to complete the transaction within our timescale. Whilst Baugur / Goldsmiths ultimately offered our client the best deal, we were keen to retain the competitive tension in the process so that our clients' interests were protected until the deal had completed.''

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