As previously reported by Drapers, Electra Private Equity will be delisted from the main London Stock Exchange and will be admitted to Aim on January 31, when it will be renamed Unbound Group. The shareholders approved the listing at a general meeting on December 30, 2021.
Hotter Shoes CEO Ian Watson will become CEO of Unbound Group. He explained that with a market capitalization of the main Hotter Shoes brand of less than £ 100million (currently at £ 30.3million), the company is better suited to the smaller market in the world. ‘Aim.
He added that there are better tax implications for investors, both through stamp duty and inheritance tax.
As part of the new list, Unbound Group plans to become a multi-brand retail platform for people aged 55 and over. It will expand its offering beyond footwear to include clothing, wellness and lifestyle products. It will also sell third-party brands.
The company intends to leverage Hotter Shoes’ existing customer database and digital infrastructure to support sales on the new Unbound platform.
He said the digital platform “will enable the development of a low-risk and mutually beneficial agreement” with selected third-party partners that will provide “underserved” customers in the targeted demographic over the age of 55 “not only relevant and lifestyle-enhancing products and services, but also ultimately a community platform “.
Partner brands have already been identified and negotiations are underway with several parties.
The medium-term ambition is to generate more than half of Unbound’s profits from non-Hotter products. The first set of unconsolidated revenue from sales of non-Hotter footwear products will be released in the second quarter of 2022.
Hotter’s revenue grew 9% year on year in November and December 2021, with a gross margin of 65.5%, despite supply chain cost and availability issues, and the variant’s rapid spread. Omicron from Covid-19, which suppressed the high demand.
It comes after the brand’s voluntary corporate agreement (CVA) received the green light from creditors in July 2020, allowing the company to reduce its store portfolio from 61 stores to 15 and change the terms of payment of rent.
