After nine years, Genesis Capital, one of the largest private equity fund managers in the Czech Republic, is withdrawing from its investment in the retail fashion company pietro filipi. Under the ownership of GPEF I, the fund managed by Genesis Capital, pietro filipi increased its annual turnover from 200 to its current 500+ million CZK.
Genesis Capital acquired pietro filipi through the GPEF I fund in 2004 with the plan for further development. “When we entered pietro filipi, the Company had no own shops and the products were offered to the end-customers only through other retail chains and retail stores. Thanks to our investment, pietro filipi currently operates a network of 25 shops in the Czech Republic and 12 in the Baltic States and Slovakia. In other countries, the Company operates through the cooperation with over thirty franchise partners,” says Jan Tauber, Managing Partner of Genesis Capital.
During nine years under the ownership of GPEF I, pietro filipi more than doubled its annual turnover. Upon its entry in 2004, the Company’s turnover was 200 million crowns; in 2012 its consolidated turnover reached over 500 million. “pietro filipi fulfilled the outlined five-year plan by 2008. It managed to succeed on the Czech and Slovak markets and in 2008 it entered Lithuania and Latvia, where it built effective sales networks. Nevertheless, the Company’s growth slowed down significantly in recent years due to the economic crisis and it thus abandoned plans to enter other new markets,” says Radim Jasek, partner of Genesis Capital, adding that this development also caused the unusually long ownership presence of Genesis Capital in the Company.
Petr Hendrych, the Company’s founder and current minority shareholder, sees the reacquisition of a majority share in the Company as the next logical step in his business venture. “Our first priority will be to improve the efficiency of the existing chain of shops. We’re not planning to enter new markets with our own capital at present. However, what could help us move forward and what we’re planning to do is to continue expansion through franchises,” says Petr Hendrych.
About Genesis Capital
Genesis Capital offers small and medium sized enterprises in the Czech Republic and Slovakia financing for their growth and development. It has already supported more than 25 companies through the private equity funds under its management. Through their cooperation with Genesis Capital many of these have become leaders in their field. Genesis Capital has already secured more than two billion crowns for the development of Czech and Slovak companies. Since its inception in 1999, Genesis Capital has managed three private equity funds with a total of nearly EUR 100 million. Two of these funds have already fully committed their capital to selected Czech and Slovak companies. At present, the newest Genesis Private Equity Fund II, with EUR 40 million, is open for investments.
Selected companies in which Genesis Capital has invested include: Profimedia, Vydis Group, Game JRC Czech, Servodata, pietro filipi, Gumotex, AB Facility, KS Klima-Service, Energetické strojírny Brno.
About pietro filipi
pietro filipi was founded in 1993 in the Czech Republic. The Italian name was chosen by the company’s founder because Italy is a country with strong ties to fashion and design. During the first years of the company’s existence, it predominantly focused on establishing the right processes: from creating designs and patterns and prototype modelling to launching collections and then distributing them through retail chains. Originally pietro filipi developed collections for customers to the extent of a wholesale model. It was not until 1998 that the company realised its ambitions and began to build a retail network with the help of franchise partners. Over the next few years, not only the brand, but the entire company proved its potential. In 2004, one of Genesis Capital’s funds invested in the company. The new capital was used to buy franchises in the Czech Republic and Slovakia and build a chain of pietro filipi shops – today, pietro filipi has a network of 25 shops in the Czech Republic and 12 in the Baltic States and Slovakia. In other countries, pietro filipi operates through franchise partners, of whom it has more than thirty.