Tucked inside a press release formalizing its acquisition of Crosstown Traders, Catalog Holdings announced the sale of Spiegel Brands to an investor group led by Granite Creek Partners for an undisclosed price.
Spiegel Brands owns and operates catalogs under the Spiegel, Newport News, Carabella and AB Lambdin fashion apparel brands. Catalog Holdings is a portfolio company of Golden Gate Capital.
Orchard Brands, a Golden Gate Capital multichannel marketer of apparel and home products geared toward men and women over age 55, includes the Appleseed’s, Blair, Draper’s & Damon’s, Gold Violin, Haband, Norm Thompson, Sahalie, Solutions, Tog Shop and WinterSilks catalogs. It has annual revenue of more than $1 billion.
Golden Gate Capital spokesperson Joelle Kenealey declined comment on the sale of Spiegel Brands. But Stefan Kaluzny, managing director at Golden Gate Capital, offered the following in a release: “In addition to continuing to seek additional acquisitions for Orchard Brands, Catalog Holdings will aggressively pursue multichannel retail acquisitions where our deep experience allows us to add operational or strategic value.”
Orchard Brands last month bought the eight Crosstown Traders apparel titles: Old Pueblo Traders, Bedford Fair, Willow Ridge, Lew Magram, Brownstone Studio, Intimate Appeal, Monterey Bay Clothing Company and Coward Shoe. Those titles will be pared with similar businesses owned by Orchard Brands.
The sale of Spiegel Brands, Kaluzny said, was “a natural step in managing our portfolio of brands as we had grown profitability dramatically and produced very attractive investment returns over our four years of ownership.”
Indeed, Orchard Brands can be more of a strong niche player in the age 55-plus category by using the funds from the sale of the Spiegel Group, says Chris Shannon, managing director with investment firm Berkery, Noyes & Co. “Spiegel is more general, and the name of the game in catalog companies is identify and dominate a category,” he says.
Stuart Rose, managing director for investment bank Tully & Holland, agrees. “Spiegel doesn’t focus on the over 55 market like Orchard,” he says. “Orchard is sharpening its focus, so [the divestiture] is not a surprise.”