Card Factory on the brink of £350m sale

Greeting cards retailer Card Factory is on the verge of selling to private equity firm Charterhouse Capital Partners, The Times reported today (Thursday 8th April).

Reports indicate that the Card Factory founders, Dean and Janet Hoyle, could be set to reap a windfall of £350 million for the sale of the 480 strong chain of stores.

The retailer had attracted interest from a string of private equity groups since the business was put up for sale in February.
Charterhouse Capital Partners could close the deal by the end of this week, the paper said, joining a clutch of private equity groups that have turned their attention to the British retail sector since the start of the year.
Card Factory, founded in 1997, has expanded rapidly in the past two years, capitalising on the collapse into administration of the Celebrations chain after buying 76 stores from the administrator in 2008.
Card Factory is forecast to make profits (EBITDA) of £50m in the year to January 2010, up from £30m the previous year, on sales of £215m. The company has grown dramatically over the past year with the opening of 100 stores. Most were at former sites of the failed Celebrations retail chain that went into administration in 2008.

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