Investors may be familiar with Marwyn as the buy-and-build specialist that's already created more than a little value through the likes of and . Now it's looking to do the same in the luxury goods industry with the launch of its latest vehicle, Silvercloud, part of the newly listed Marwyn Management Partners. Managing partner Mark Watts explains.
"We've been looking at the luxury goods space for a while and with the success of things like Burberry we think the market is starting to understand the opportunity that exists within the industry, which has been incredibly resilient even through more difficult times. While the Asian experience has driven a lot of global sales of luxury goods it isn't the only story - there is a generally increased appetite for luxury goods and what the best brands have done is encouraged people into their shops that wouldn't normally have gone in.
"We're looking at heritage brands in areas like technical sports that have never expanded beyond their core base, and plan to develop a broader consumer offering. We think there are a large number of opportunities with undervalued family businesses, often with succession issues. They've often run their business to a point where they're either not prepared to take enough risk to expand it, or don't have the capital or maybe even the skillset to do it, which we can provide.
"We're seeing valuations in the range that we'd normally expect at the top end of prices we'd pay in other sectors. But the arbitrage between what we pay and selling it at the multiple that the public luxury goods businesses like LVMH are prepared to pay would make investors a lot of money."
