Madrid, 11 January 2018 – Grupo Cortefiel, one of the leading international companies in fashion distribution, today announces a step forward in its relationship strategy. With close to 21 million customers in all its clubs and loyalty programmes, Grupo Cortefiel strengthens its strategic leadership in the omnichannel era with Pedro Esquivias joining its Management Committee as Chief Customer Officer.

Cortefiel Club, Springfield’s Club and Women’secret’s WOW club are leading customer relationship programmes in the fashion industry at a national level and they are being developed to be introduced internationally.

The new Management consolidates the strategy and activity of the Online, CRM, Analytics, Market Studies and Call Centre departments, as well as all the activities and developments having to do with customers.

The Chief Customer Officer will be responsible for the omnichannel strategy and boosting online business along with the loyalty clubs as a competitive advantage with strong potential at the company.

To date, Pedro Esquivias was Partner and Managing Director of The Boston Consulting Group, a leading strategic consulting firm which he joined in 1998. He has extensive international experience in the consumer, travel and retail sectors in over 20 countries, carrying out his activity from Madrid, Barcelona, New York and London, where he was the partner in charge of the development of the Travel and Tourism sector for the company in the United Kingdom.

The new member of Grupo Cortefiel’s Management Committee began his career in the Corporate Area of Banco Santander, later joining Santander Investment. He holds a degree in European Business Administration from ICADE and the Middlesex Business School as well as an MBA from Harvard Business School. In the educational realm, he is an adjunct professor of Marketing at IE Business School.

Madrid, 13 November 2017 – Grupo Cortefiel, a leading international fashion retailer, today announced strong operating and financial results for the first half of its financial year, which runs from 1 March to 31 August 2017^[1]

Over the six-month period, revenue was up 5.9% year on year to 563.6 million euros, underpinned by continued growth in sales across all brands, markets and channels and particularly the outstanding performance of the e-commerce segment.

Recurring EBITDA grew by 134.9% to 85.4 million euros, compared to 36.4 million euros reported in the first half of the 2016/17 financial year. Recurring EBITDA LTM^[2]  was up 73.2% from 94.5 million euros in August 2016 to 163.7 million in 2017.

This improved EBITDA came on the back of the total sales growth highlighted above, coupled with a 4.1 percentage point hike in gross margin and a 3% year-on-year reduction in operating costs.

Grupo Cortefiel CEO Jaume Miquel said: “The strong performance of like-for-like sales, the improved gross margin across all brands and the successful reduction of costs all clearly reflect the positive response to the Strategic Plan rolled out as of September 2016.”

By channels, total e-commerce sales were up 28% year on year, with all brands reporting growth of over 20% in sales through this channel between March and August.

Member numbers for the group’s clubs and cardholder programmes, which are a crucial component of its business strategy, were up almost 10%, to 21.2 million customers across all of the groups brands. Total club sales were up by 7.4%.

In relation to this area, Jaume Miquel said: “The added emphasis on our online business and cardholder clubs is a core component of our strategy, not only as a means of increasing sales but also with a view to deepening the emotional ties between our members and each of our brands.”

The first half of the financial year saw new points of sale open across various markets such as France, Spain, Belgium, Russia and Mauritius, as well as Grupo Cortefiel’s debut in the Indian market.

As at 31 August, Grupo Cortefiel had a sales network comprising 1,932 stores in over 80 countries, of which 1,166 are directly operated, 661 are franchises and 105 are corners.

Recent corporate milestones

In September, the relevant authorities approved the acquisition of Grupo Cortefiel by CVC and PAI, following the agreement reached for the joint acquisition of the Spanish group in June.

Also in September, Grupo Cortefiel successfully issued bonds worth a total of 600 million euros among qualified institutional investors. The bond issuance comprised two tranches: 275 million euros in 7-year senior secured notes and 325 million euros in 7-year floating rate senior secured notes. Following the transaction, the group’s debt will be paid down by approximately 40%.

[1] Grupo Cortefiel’s 2017/18 financial year runs from 1 March 2017 to 28 February 2018.

[2] LTM: Last Twelve Months

Madrid, 8 september 2017 – Masaria Investments, S.A.U., the holding company of international apparel retailer Grupo Cortefiel, has successfully closed the issuance of senior secured notes for an aggregate amount of 600 million euros among qualified institutional investors. These notes were issued in two tranches. The first was for 275 million euros in 7-year fixed rate notes (not redeemable for the first two years) with a coupon of 5%, whereas the second tranche was for 325 million euros in 7-year floating rate notes (not redeemable for the first year) with a coupon of Euribor + 525 basis points.

Together with the equity provided by the shareholders, the proceeds from this issuance will be used to repay the current debt of Grupo Cortefiel. Following the transaction, the group’s debt will be reduced by approximately 40%.

“The outstanding result of this issuance reflects the commitment of our quality investors with expertise in retail to a company with a solid management team and bright future. Grupo Cortefiel now has a much stronger financial and operational position, making us exceptionally well placed to focus firmly on meeting our business plan” concluded Jaume Miquel, CEO of Grupo Cortefiel.

European Commission approval

On 6 September, the European Commission approved the acquisition of Grupo Cortefiel by CVC and PAI. Both firms reached an agreement last July to acquire the Spanish retailer.

Madrid, 21 July 2017Grupo Cortefiel, one of the leading fashion retailers operating in the specialised chain store segment, announces that funds advised by CVC and PAI have reached an agreement to jointly acquire Grupo Cortefiel.

The renewed commitment of CVC and PAI is a clear endorsement of the strategic plan being implemented by Grupo Cortefiel Executive Team led by its CEO Jaume Miquel since September 2016.

The deal increases the Company’s financial and operational strength and significantly reduces its financial indebtedness. This transaction represents the full exit of the Permira funds from the capital structure.

José Antonio Torre de Silva of CVC stated: “The excellent performance of Grupo Cortefiel and our confidence in its ability to create value and become a reference in the sector have been instrumental in our investment decision”

Federico Conchillo of PAI added: “Our investment confirms our confidence in the Grupo Cortefiel team. The Strategic Plan is yielding results that are much better than forecasted and the roadmap ahead is clearly defined”

Miguel Ibarrola, Non-Executive Chairman of Grupo Cortefiel said: “The shareholder and financial stability provided by CVC and PAI’s reinvestment, coupled with the excellent performance of the Strategic Plan, are the best guarantee to meet our future goals. We are immensely grateful for the trust that Permira has placed in Grupo Cortefiel these past years. Its contribution and unwavering support have been vital for the Company’s evolution”

As is standard, the transaction is subject to approval by the relevant authorities.

Operating results for the first four months 2017/18^[1]

In September 2016, Grupo Cortefiel initiated a Strategic Plan aimed at:

1. strengthening the positioning of its brands and unifying its sales strategy,
2. implementing new processes to ensure sustained growth,
3. reinforcing the Group’s synergies and, finally
4. applying the new efficiency criteria to drive profitability.

The plan is yielding its results, as reflected by the positive performance of the main business indicators: an increase in like-for-like sales and gross margins and a reduction in costs, all of which has had a direct impact on the exponential improvement in profitability.

From March to June 2017, Net Revenues reached 345 million euros (up 9.8% versus the same period last year). Recurring EBITDA increased in the same period by 230% coming in at 52.1 million euros.

In annualised terms (from June 2016 to June 2017), Last-Twelve-Month EBITDA increased from 96.9 million euros to 151 million euros, +56%.

With respect to these figures, Jaume Miquel, Grupo Cortefiel CEO, said: “We’ve seen very strong performance across our brands and distribution channels in line with the Strategic Plan, which, coupled with the other measures adopted, are a clear sign that we are firmly moving in the right direction. Our goal is to accelerate and move forward with the process to continually improve our global footprint, digitalisation, sales and profitability�/em>.

[1] The 2017/18 financial year began on 1 March 2017 and ends on 28 February 2018.