Very interesting, Hot Topic was bought recently and Torrid is getting ready to compete! As is Fashion to Figure it seems!
http://on.wsj.com/17m262m
[h=2]Plus-Sized Retailers Gain Growing Investor Interest[/h] By Jonathan Shieber
There is a growing interest among private equity firms in companies servicing North America’s bigger consumers.
While
Abercrombie & Fitch Co. drew fire last week for its chief executive’s 2006 comments on
selling to America’s larger consumers, some private equity investors are embracing the trend.
In March, Sycamore Partners bought
Hot Topic Inc. in a $600 million take-private acquisition. According to people with knowledge of that deal, while its signature Hot Topic stores are the company’s most recognizable, the deal was made so that Sycamore could grow the company’s Torrid subsidiary, a retailer focused on plus-size sales.
The Torrid business responds to rising consumer demand from the growing overweight population in the U.S., said the person familiar with the deal.
“Right now it’s a very small business within this company. It’s 190 stores, [but] looking at the competitors in the marketplace it could be substantially larger,” the person said.
Earlier, in February, a new private equity firm formed under the auspices of
Perella Weinberg Partners invested in B. Lane Inc., a plus size fashion retailer doing business as Fashion to Figure.
New York-based PWP Growth Equity invested alongside other firms in an $18.2 million equity financing for the plus-sized retailer, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Finally, late last year, the U.S.-based private equity arm of Australian investment manager
QIC invested in OneStopPlus, a plus-sized women’s retailer, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal.
Boston-based Charlesbank Capital Partners and Webster Capital had acquired a stake in the business in December for $525 million, and Australia’s QIC came on as a co-underwriter for Webster Capital in the investment.
OneStopPlus has exposure to the growth in North America’s online consumer behavior, and the region’s overweight, aging population, the Journal reported in March.
According to data compiled by OneStopPlus ‘s new owners, sales to North America’s overweight population could be worth $17 billion, with 66% of all adults now considered overweight. That figure that is expected to grow to 74% by 2019.