Cath Kidston up for sale

The entrepreneur, who launched the vintage clothing and homewares brand in 1992, has a stake of just under 30 per cent in the business, which she intends to keep.

As to the remaining two-thirds of the business, our sister title, Real Deals, reports that private equity firms Silverfleet Capital, Inflexion, Barclays Private Equity, Darwin and Isis have all put in first-round bids for the business, whose sale is being run by merchant bank Quayle Munro.

Accounts filed with Companies House show that the designer saw profits jump more than 60 per cent from £2.9m to £4.6m in the year to March 2009.

Sales rocketed to £31.3m during the period, compared to £19.3m the year before, although this was partly thanks to new store openings.

Currently, the business has 28 shops and concessions in the UK, two in Ireland, and seven in Japan, but it is now seeking investment in order to increase its store numbers to 60 in three years. It also plans to expand in Japan, China and South Korea.

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