Oxfordshire haberdashery distributor buys tailor's dummy business

Published by

Nicky Godding

An Oxfordshire-based haberdashery distributor has bought dress form manufacturer Adjustoform Products from Electra Private Equity Plc, a London Stock Exchange listed investment trust.

Kent-based Thomson Snell & Passmore, advised Electra on the sale to Groves of Thame (Holdings) Limited.

Ashford based Adjustoform, which makes dress forms, model used to reflect the body's shape (dressmakers dummies to most of us), has grown to become a world leader in dress form manufacturing over the last 50 years, selling worldwide.

Groves is the UK's leading supplier of sewing and needlecraft accessories. Its acquisition of Adjustoform will further add to its already impressive portfolio of products.

In disposing of the business, Electra wanted to realise its private equity investment but also find a new owner that would preserve Adjustoform’s heritage and enable the organisation to reach the next level of success..

Canterbury based Kreston Reeves acted as corporate finance advisors, having helped prepare and market Adjustoform for sale.

Gavin Manson, CFO of Electra Private Equity said: “We are delighted that Adjustoform has become part of Groves. Thomson Snell & Passmore guided this transaction with great skill and multidisciplinary teamwork and we thank them for their expertise and the role they played in enabling a seamless transaction.”

Joanne Gallagher, Partner at Thomson Snell & Passmore added: “We are so pleased to have successfully completed this deal, working alongside Kreston Reeves Corporate Finance to provide a seamless service to our mutual client Electra. We were able to harness our expertise in Private Equity and M&A as well as draw on our wide ranging skillsets from across our commercial departments to successfully complete this transaction. We wish the Adjustoform team all the best as it joins Groves.”

Nicky Godding

Nicky Godding is editor of The Business Magazine. Before her journalism career, she worked mainly in public relations moving into writing when she was invited to launch Retail Watch, a publication covering retail and real estate across Europe. After some years of constant travelling, she tucked away her passport and concentrated on business writing, co-founding a successful regional business magazine. She has interviewed some of the UK’s most successful entrepreneurs who have built multi-million-pound businesses and reported on many science and technology firsts. She reports on the region’s thriving business economy from start-ups, family businesses and multi-million-pound corporations, to the professionals that support their growth and the institutions that educate the next generation of business leaders.