Golden Goose Welcomes New Investor Blue Pool Capital
Golden Goose has a new minority investor in Blue Pool Capital.
The Hong Kong-based family office set up by Joe Tsai, cofounder and chairman of the Alibaba Group, has acquired a 12 percent stake in the Italian company.
Funds advised by Permira will retain a majority investment in Golden Goose.
Permira acquired a majority stake in the brand in 2020 to accelerate its growth through direct-to-consumer channels, in particular online and retail, and diversify its product assortment.
“We warmly welcome Blue Pool Capital as a strategic partner in our journey to redefine luxury,” said Silvio Campara, chief executive officer of Golden Goose. “This partnership reflects the strength of our brand and the incredible global community of Dreamers we have built.”
Campara touted the expertise of Blue Pool and “their deep connections” in the U.S. and in the Asia-Pacific region, as well as “their impressive portfolio in sports investments,” which will contribute to “ push the boundaries of our dream. Together, we will accelerate our growth through innovation while continuing to deliver unique, authentic experiences to our community.”
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Since 2020, Golden Goose has more than doubled its revenues and built a community of over 1.8 million customers. Golden Goose is present in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East and the Asia-Pacific region, with more than 200 stores and an online and wholesale distribution network.
“We are huge believers in Golden Goose and its team — its positioning at the intersection between luxury and sportswear is truly unique and we are confident that we will be able to support Silvio and his team to unlock the brand’s potential,” said Oliver Weisberg, CEO of Blue Pool Capital.
Weisberg will join the Golden Goose board of directors.
The sale is a new development after the company delayed its initial public offering in June at the 11th hour due to European market volatility. In November, asked for an update, Campara said, “the process never finished for us, we continue to create value aligned with our investors, and when there will be the right market conditions, it will be an option that we will consider.”
At the time, the price range of Golden Goose shares was set between 9.50 euros and 10.50 euros, implying a market capitalization of about 1.69 billion euros to 1.86 billion euros. Thirty percent of Golden Goose’s capital was to be floated by the current sole shareholder of the company, Astrum SapA of Astrum 4 Srl & C. In 2020, the company was acquired by the private equity fund Permira from the Carlyle Europe buyout fund. The price tag was 1.28 billion euros.
Golden Goose has weathered the challenging economy and, in the nine months ended Sept. 30, sales totaled 466 million euros, a 12 percent increase compared with the same period in 2023.
Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization climbed 11 percent to 163 million euros, a margin of 35 percent on sales.
This was driven primarily by the strong performance of its DTC channel, which posted an 18 percent increase in revenues to 346.1 million euros, accounting for 74 percent of the total, driven by strong growth in the Europe, Middle East and Africa region, up 27 percent in the nine months. In the Americas, this channel was up 4 percent in the nine months.
Adjusted operating profit rose 8 percent to 118.5 million euros.
Retail was the main contributor to the DTC growth, up 20 percent thanks to new openings and midsingle-digit like-for-like performance. The company in the period opened 17 stores in cities including Mexico City, Bangkok, Rome and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
As of Sept. 30, the network of the brand’s directly operated stores totaled 208 units.
The wholesale channel registered a 4 percent decline to 110.4 million euros, accounting for 24 percent of the total, as a result of the strategic decision to continue upgrading the quality of the distribution network to preserve the brand’s integrity and to more easily control the co-creation opportunity.
