Goldigga 
Sale of Golddigga clothing brand
The Golddigga fashion brand has been sold in an £18.5m transaction to its management team. The transaction was initiated, led and structured by Cooper Parry with private equity funding provided by Octopus Investments and bank funding by Yorkshire Bank.
Owned by Designdock Limited, Golddigga is a fast growing fashion brand targeting girls aged between 15 and 25. Aaron Thalmann, the founder and major shareholder of Designdock, is reinvesting part of his consideration as part of the transaction and will hold a major equity share in the new company. He remains committed to the growth of the business and moves to the role of Creative Director as part of the re-structuring.
Turnover has grown strongly from £4.5m in 2004 to £10m in 2006. The transaction structure makes provision for new, incoming, management to participate in a significant minority equity stake to enable the company to grow the calibre and strength of the senior team. A new Chief Executive, Sales Director, Non-Executive Chairman and interim Finance Director have all been appointed as part of the transaction.
Aaron Thalmann said: “I have special thanks to Cooper Parry, particularly Roy Farmer and Sally Williams, who have helped me tremendously in realising my ambition to crystallise the value built up to date whilst at the same time enabling me to retain a significant involvement in the business going forwards. I look forward to the business and brand moving on to the next stage of growth.”Roy Farmer, Corporate Finance Partner at Cooper Parry said: “We have worked intensively with Aaron Thalmann and Doug Bell since early-2005 in order to achieve their key objectives. With the company’s recent rapid growth and significant opportunities for further growth, we always felt that this would be an attractive investment opportunity for a financial investor. Whilst the deal was necessarily complex, it allowed the shareholders to achieve their key objectives.”
Daniel Morris, the incoming Chief Executive of the new management team, said: “I am delighted that I have been able to invest in a company which is so focussed and creative and to be part of such an energetic and positive environment. We will be focusing on growing domestic and overseas sales, driven by a significantly increased investment in marketing and sales support. I look forward to working with Aaron and the existing team to build on the strong base that has already been achieved, so that the Golddigga brand realises its future potential.”
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