CWF: Arkéa Capital, Raise and Dzeta Group inject 140 million in capital

By

Sarah Ahssen

Translated by
Cassidy STEPHENS

Published
Jan 24, 2023

Following the arrival of Alain Pourcelot (ex-Adidas and Alain Afflelou) as chairman, French children's fashion specialist Children Worldwide Fashion has just received a €140 million reinvestment from its current shareholders: Arkéa Capital, the private equity branch of the Crédit Mutuel Arkéa group, Raise Investissement and Dzeta Group.

According to a press release from Arkéa Capital, this refinancing will allow CWF to optimise its current distribution model, to accelerate its development through online and international sales platforms, but above all to integrate new brands into its portfolio.

The CWF group, which has thirteen children's licences in its portfolio, including Givenchy, Chloé, Kenzo Kids, Timberland and Michael Kors, as well as two of its own brands, Billie Blush and Carrément Beau, has been entrusted with the Sonia Rykiel children's licence by the American group G-III, and the Hugo licence by the German group Hugo Boss.

With a presence in 80 countries and nearly 2,200 points of sale, including 350 department stores, 70 pure players and 65 'Kids around' boutiques, CWF, which has a turnover of 284 million euros in 2022, is testing new boutique concepts. At the beginning of January, the group opened its first shop dedicated exclusively to its accessories offer. The store is located in the heart of the Disneyland Paris Village.

As a reminder, Alain Pourcelot is working alongside Freddy Mallet, former chairman, who remains a "significant" shareholder of CWF and has taken over the chairmanship of the Supervisory Board, and Pascal Leblanc, managing director.