Camaïeu
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Business description
Camaïeu is a leading European retailer of women's ready-to-wear clothing and operates 859 stores, of which 535 are in France. It offers affordable 'ready-to-wear, easy-to-buy' clothing for women between 20 and 40 years of age. Outside France, Camaïeu has stores in Poland, Italy, the Czech Republic, Spain, Belgium and Slovakia, and operates franchises in Russia and the Middle East. Within France, Camaïeu also sells its products online.
Camaïeu is a trend follower and a pricing leader. The company's sophisticated systems and processes (procurement, logistics, restocking and product mix) enable it to optimise sales through a continuous flow of competitively priced products at high volumes. At an average 200 square metres, the size of Camaïeu's stores offers potential for further expansion in smaller catchment areas where larger competitors cannot justify a presence.
Cinven strategy
In April 2007, Cinven acquired a controlling 65% stake in Camaïeu (75% of the voting rights) from Axa Private Equity. Under the rules of the Paris stock exchange, Cinven made an offer for the balance of the publicly held company, after which it owned 67% including share options. Cinven's Consumer sector and French teams had developed a relationship with the management team and had a clear understanding of the business model, based in part on the firm's experience with CBR, the German 'value for money' retailer.
Camaïeu has growth potential, best-in-class margins and strong cash flows, and is relatively resilient to customer spending cycles because of its price positioning. Cinven's strategy is to create value mainly by opening stores in core and new markets, taking advantage of the rapid development, high profitability and return on capital associated with store openings.
