The UK and US Corporate Finance* teams are pleased to announce they have advised Gymshark, a global fitness apparel brand, on its successful minority capital raise from General Atlantic (“GA”). GA has signed an agreement to acquire a stake in Gymshark and completion of the transaction is subject to competition approval.
The valuation sees Gymshark join an exclusive list of fewer than 25 British companies to have secured ‘Unicorn’ status (valued greater than $1bn) since 2001, achieving the feat in just eight years. It is only the second British company to have reached this milestone without previous support from external investors.
Gymshark is a D2C fitness apparel brand based in Solihull, United Kingdom. Founded in 2012 by teenager Ben Francis, Gymshark has grown from a screen- printing operation in a garage into one of the fastest growing and most recognisable brands in fitness.
Gymshark has established an immersive social ecosystem and offers a complete fitness wardrobe, targeting social natives in the UK, US and around the world. Gymshark’s immersive social community and authentic brand have resulted in Gymshark being the fastest growing clothing brand in the UK. Gymshark has won numerous awards, including The Sunday Times Fast Track 100 and The Sunday Times International Track 200. Having achieved exceptional growth since inception and a revenue CAGR of 56% since 2018, Gymshark is now at £250m revenue.
GA is a global growth equity investor, focused on minority investments in high-growth businesses and supporting visionary founders. GA has partnered with high growth consumer brands such as Sezane, Tory Burch, Zimmerman, Depop and Joe & the Juice supporting them with their international growth aspirations.
Following the investment Gymshark plans to continue scaling in international markets to continue to become a preeminent global fitness brand.
PwC Corporate Finance acted as lead advisor with a UK and US combined team to provide a global insight to Gymshark and utilise the strong DTC credentials from our US firm.
The process commenced in June over lock down and reached signing within a 10 week period utilising technology to support global remote working. Founder Ben Francis has retained a majority stake of c.70% whilst passive co-founder shareholder Lewis Morgan will exit in full as part of this transaction.
The UK team advising on the deal was Matt Waddell, Tom Copeland, Amit Aggarwal, Heena Gorrie, Rich Sanders, Charlotte Astleford, Kate Davies and Ibrahim Adat. The US team was Trip Wolfe, Jimmy Yasuki, Fred Rochat, Jonathan Nemes, Curtis Wilder and William Thompson.
PwC also provided commercial due diligence, financial due diligence, data analytics, cyber security, and tax advice.
Ben Francis, Founder of Gymshark, said:
"We selected PwC Corporate Finance because they really got us as a business and were able to provide the global insight and reach we needed to find the right partner for Gymshark. PwC educated us on the process, and I have learned so much from them. Thanks again to all at PwC for their support on this deal which will no doubt help elevate Gymshark into a truly global brand."
Trip Wolfe, PwC Corporate Finance LLC President, said:
“Gymshark emerged as one of the rare DTC companies that successfully marries culture, community and commerce. Ben, Steve, Paul and the team built a business with energy and passion that permeates throughout the entire organization, enabling Gymshark to disrupt the fitness ecosystem with a data-driven platform, unlike any other we’ve seen. With General Atlantic's support they will continue their mission of building one of the most recognized and iconic global brands. It's been a privilege to work with the Gymshark team and help them with this process.”
Sourced from PwC