Piper Private Equity has provided £8m of funding to support the MBO of Weird Fish from its founder. The investment gives Piper a majority stake in the business and will enable Weird Fish to develop its clothing offer and expand its wholesale and direct sales.
Weird Fish was founded some 15 years ago and has grown to become one of the UK’s leading wholesale brands in the active lifestyle clothing market, selling in to over 400 national and independent accounts.
The business provides clothing for the lucrative and growing market of older men and women who want a branded and more individual product to that provided by mainstream retailers or the heavily branded and more fashion-led product offered by other wholesalers or retailers.
The MBO was led by John Stockton, who joined Weird Fish over a year ago and was previously the driving force behind the growth of the Animal brand.
“I am delighted that we have chosen Piper as our partner for growth. Their track record of successfully growing clothing businesses such as Boden and Gray & Osbourn will enable us to achieve outstanding results over the coming years” commented John Stockton.