Next Acquires Seraphine for £600,000: A New Chapter in Maternity Fashion

Seraphine is being sold to Next. The British fashion distribution company has taken over the maternity fashion company for 600,000 pounds ($796,632). As reported on its website, William James Wright and Christopher Pole, of consultancy Interpath Advisory, were appointed joint administrators of Seraphine last July.

Seraphine ceased operations following the appointment of the new administrators and is not accepting new orders. Next will now take over the relaunch of Seraphine, which will continue to offer maternity wear. In addition, the founder, Cécile Reinaud, will join the company as a consultant.

According to the latest published data, Seraphine’s fall dates back to 2023, when the company already forecast a drop in turnover of 8.6% to £19 million ($25.2 million) in the first quarter.

Seraphine is not accepting new orders at the moment, pending its relaunch

Last April, David Williams stepped down as CEO. Then, in September, Seraphine announced the appointment of Jonathon Brown, former CEO of Joules, and Mary Homer, former CEO of The White Company, to lead its general management.

However, the top management overhaul was not enough, and the company went into receivership last month after failing to attract investor interest to save it from bankruptcy.

Seraphine took its first steps in 2002 under the leadership of Cécile Reinaud, who specialized in maternity garments. In 2021, the company was taken over by the Mayfair Equity Partners fund in a deal valued at fifty million pounds (just over 58 million euros). The company was listed on the London Stock Exchange in July of the same year.

In January 2023, the Mayfair Equity Partner fund reached an agreement with the maternity fashion company to take 100% of the company, which led to its delisting. The buyback of the business was worth 15.3 million pounds ($10.3 million), with the company arguing that the deal would allow it to save the costs associated with being listed, so that it could focus on “returning to profitable growth”.

The purchase by Next coincides with good timing for the company, which has raised its guidance for the current fiscal year to £1.1 million, £25 million higher than the previous estimate. As of the end of July, its sales were reported to be up 10.5% year-on-year, according to British media reports.