TowerBrook close to Jimmy Choo buy

05/02/2007 07:21

By Megan Davies

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Investors led by TowerBrook Capital Partners LLP are close to buying luxury shoe designer Jimmy Choo Ltd. for about 180 million sterling ($354 million), a source familiar with the situation said on Sunday.

The glamorous high-heeled women’s shoes grabbed attention when the lead character in the U.S. TV series "Sex and the City", Carrie Bradshaw, played by Sarah Jessica Parker, declared her devotion to them.

London-based Jimmy Choo Ltd, which also produces accessories such as handbags, is 51 percent owned by private equity firm Lion Capital LLP. Lion bought a majority stake in Jimmy Choo in 2004 for 101 million pounds sterling.

Jimmy Choo was launched in 1996 by Jimmy Choo, a couture shoe-maker based in the East End of London, and an accessories editor at Vogue UK, Tamara Mellon, the company’s Web site (www.jimmychoo.com) says.

In 2001, Equinox Luxury Holdings Ltd bought Choo’s share of the ready-to-wear business with Robert Bensoussan, Equinox’s chief executive becoming chief executive.

In November 2006, Choo told reporters at a design conference in Hong Kong that he no longer had anything to do with the ready-to-wear brand.

TowerBrook was spun off from financier George Soros’ investment group in 2005. It was the buy-out arm of Soros Fund Management and was .....continued below

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spun out as part of a Soros organisation effort to focus on its hedge fund roots.

By Megan Davies

In 2001, Equinox Luxury Holdings Ltd bought Choo’s share of the ready-to-wear business with Robert Bensoussan, Equinox’s chief executive becoming chief executive.

In November 2006, Choo told reporters at a design conference in Hong Kong that he no longer had anything to do with the ready-to-wear brand.

TowerBrook was spun off from financier George Soros’ investment group in 2005. It was the buy-out arm of Soros Fund Management and was spun out as part of a Soros organisation effort to focus on its hedge fund roots.

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