Lion Capital takes majority stake in Jimmy Choo

Hicks Muse, which subsequently became Lion Capital, acquired 51% of Jimmy Choo from Equinox Luxury Holdings in November 2004, at an enterprise value of £100–350M. Tamara Mellon and her family retained the remaining 49%, and Robert Bensoussan, a shareholder in the selling vehicle, continued as chief executive. Founded in London in 1996, Jimmy Choo designs and sells luxury women’s footwear, principally evening and occasion shoes, alongside a handbag range introduced in 2003. Manufactured in Italy, its products are distributed through its own boutiques, including flagships opened on Madison Avenue and New Bond Street the previous year, and through department and specialty stores. Red carpet exposure built the brand. Mellon had established a service supplying shoes dyed to match the dresses of actresses attending American awards ceremonies, and a pair worn to the Academy Awards in 1999, followed by a line of dialogue in an American television series the same year, carried the name beyond the specialist trade. Equinox had engaged NM Rothschild earlier that month to examine a sale, a listing or a refinancing, having received approaches from several investors, and the shoemaker whose name the company bears had sold his interest in 2001, when the business was valued at around 30 million dollars across four shops. His niece Sandra Choi had directed the creative work since the foundation and continued to do so, while Mellon, who had conceived the business as an accessories editor at British Vogue and funded it with 150,000 pounds from her father, remained president.