NEXT and the Reiss family have acquired the 34% holding held by private equity firm Warburg Princus in Reiss for £ 128 million, bringing NEXT’s ownership in the company to 72%.
The deal will increase the Reiss family’s ownership of the business to 22% and give the Reiss management team a 6% equity share. It is expected to finalise in mid-October 2023.
The announcement made today follows a sustained period of tremendous growth for Reiss under the leadership of CEO Christos Angelides, who has held that role since 2017 and will remain in it. Before that, Angelides worked for NEXT for 28 years, 14 of which he spent as the board’s group product director.
Reiss recorded overall sales of £ 324.6 million for the fiscal year that ended on January 28, 2023, a 26.4 percent increase over the prior year. Profit before tax climbed by 50.5% to £ 51.6 million during the same period.
Retailer David Reiss founded Reiss more than 50 years ago, and NEXT made its maiden investment in the business in 2021 when it acquired a 25% stake. It had the opportunity to purchase an extra 26%, which it did the year before.
Reiss’ websites and online operations are still NEXT-managed through NEXT’s Total Platform, which went live in February 2022 and served as a platform for the company’s growth both within the UK and beyond.
According to NEXT CEO Simon Wolfson, “Reiss has performed exceptionally well since we first invested in March 2021.”
Reiss CEO Christos Angelides said, “We are appreciative of the excellent partnership with Warburg Pincus over the past seven years – their expertise has been instrumental to our sustained development and they have been a strong and trusted partner.”
