Vesta Capital acquires women’s clothing retailer Alex Apparel

Vesta acquisition of Alex Apparel : Vesta Capital Management said that one of its affiliates has acquired New York City based women’s clothing retailer Alex Apparel Group from Atlantic Street Capital for an undisclosed price.

Alex Apparel is a designer and wholesaler of eveningwear dresses and social dresses under the brands Alex Evenings, Ignite Evenings and SL Fashions. The women’s clothing brands are sold online as well as in more than 3,400 retail locations, including department stores, specialty boutiques and pure-play e-commerce sites.

Commenting on Vesta acquisition of Alex Apparel, Colleen Kelly – CEO of Alex Apparel, said: “We are excited to partner with Versa to continue the strong trajectory of our business. Versa provides us with the tools and resources to advance our strategy underpinned by our longstanding commitment to providing women with high-quality classic-social eveningwear that accentuates their beauty.”

Alex Apparel, which was founded in 1989, secured investment from Atlantic Street in late 2011, enabling the clothing retailer to stronger connection with its consumer base and retail partners. The apparel retailer is said to have gained a significant growth by expanding its distribution as well as e-commerce business.

It was under Atlantic Street Capital’s ownership that Alex Apparel completed the acquisition of SL Fashions Group, a designer of social dresses and separates. The acquisition enabled Alex Apparel to foray into new markets in the entire value-priced segment of social occasion eveningwear and key new sales channels such as e-commerce, boutiques and specialty chains.

Lincoln International were the financial advisors to Atlantic Street Capital for the transaction while Kramer Levin was th0065 legal counsel.

Peter Shabecoff – Managing Partner of Atlantic Street Capital, commenting on the sale of Alex Apparel, said: “We acquired a leading brand that was well established in its core channels that we knew had tremendous further potential.   Colleen and her team did an outstanding job in broadening the business, in particular building the e-commerce wholesale channel from virtually zero to today which accounts for approximately one-third of the business.  We are very pleased with the outcome of this investment and our involvement in helping build this brand to last another 30 years and beyond.”

Commenting on Vesta acquisition of Alex Apparel, Greg Segall – CEO of Versa Capital said: “We are very pleased to invest alongside management in this promising market leader in a specialized, attractive product category. Over the past several years, Colleen and her team have been repositioning Alex’s brands, improving product design, growing existing customer revenue and implementing best practices in sourcing and production.

“We look forward to working with the Alex Apparel team to capitalize on the numerous growth opportunities from increased direct engagement with end-customers, greater sales channel diversification, and potential strategic acquisitions.”