Investments

  • Industry
    Fashion & Design
  • Country
    GERMANY
  • Date of investment
    02-2005
  • Date of exit
    12-2010

Tom Tailor is a manufacturer and retailer of German sportswear fashion. It generates over half of its sales in Germany, and is present in 80 countries. Tom Tailor offers collections for men (over half of sales), women, teenagers and children, as well as licensing products, thus covering a broad consumer age range. Tom Tailor's business model breaks down into a traditional wholesale business and a more recent and very fast growing retail segment. 

Alpha's investment thesis for Tom Tailor was to capitalize on a strong fashion brand with a good market position and further growth potential in Germany and in Europe. Since 2005, the company has fastly been growing into retail (now a quarter of total sales) and has largely expanded its international and e-commerce operations. Alpha helped to renew Tom Tailor's management team by hiring a new CEO and a new CFO. In addition, Alpha supported major change in the company such as : a complete reorganization of the sales agents in Germany, the implementation of a new divisional structure, the launch of a new ERP / warehouse system, as well as a more recent streamlining of the supply chain. Since 2008 Alpha encouraged a cost cutting plan which has helped the company to thrive despite the economic downturn in Germany.

In March 2010, Alpha helped management to list Tom Tailor on the Frankfurt stock exchange.