Apax in talks to buy 50% Renuar stake for NIS 350m

Renuar  photo: Elad Hizki
Renuar photo: Elad Hizki

The Renuar fashion group owns two chains with a total of 168 branches.

Apax Partners, headed by Zehavit Cohen, is negotiating to acquire 50% of the Renuar fashion group, sources inform "Globes." It is believed that the negotiations involve a company value of NIS 300-350 million. Yossi Brosh and Eli Berkovice control Renuar, the fifth largest fashion group in Israel, with a 90% stake, and the rest is owned by Renuar CEO Serge De'eri.

Renuar began as a small fashion company, and later opened a chain of 125 stores for the Renuar brand. The brand originally appealed only to women, but the group later opened men's stores. The brand is aimed at the 16-45 age bracket, but Renuar is aiming at the status of a young audience brand.

The group launched a chain of 43 fashion shops for women aged 15-25 under the Twentyfourseven brand. The company launched a sales website for the Renuar brand in 2014, and six months later, in the first quarter of 2015, also launched a website for Twentyfourseven.

The group is a private company whose owners stay out of the limelight, and it financial results are unknown. According to market estimates, the group's annual sales total NIS 500 million.

The group previously considered a Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE) IPO and according to reports, announced EBITDA of NIS 30 million. It was also estimated that the group's business generated an annual net profit of NIS 25 million. It can be assumed that the group's gross profit margin resembles that of other fashion companies - in the neighborhood of 60%.

This is not the first time that Renuar has negotiated for the entry of a partner. A few years ago, it negotiated for a merger with Fox-Wizel Ltd. (TASE: FOX), and held talks with potential investors last year.

Apax, which successfully wound up its investment in Tnuva last year, when it completed the sale of the company to Chinese company Bright Food at a company value of NIS 8.6 billion, is looking for investments. Last year, the fund also considered many investments in the retail sector, and before that considered a partnership in the Fox fashion chain.

In April 2015, Apax acquired an 80% controlling interest in Schulz Catering. It is believed that the deal reflected a NIS 60-70 million value for the company. Founded in 1979, Schulz operates dining rooms for employees in their workplace. It is one of Israel's 10 largest catering companies, with a NIS 1.5 billion annual turnover. Three years ago, the company won an IDF tender to supply meals to IDF bases for 22 years.

Cohen's policy is to acquire companies whose business and profits can be improved. For example, the Tnuva group improved its business by raising prices, as part of Apax's desire to make quick profits after completing its acquisition of the group.

The Renuar group said in response, "As a leading retail fashion chain, from time to time Renuar considers business opportunities proposed to it. This does not indicate its intention or wish to make any deal whatsoever. If and when a decision is made, which is far from being the case, the company's precise and correct financial data will be published accordingly."

Apax declined to respond to the report.

Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on February 4, 2016

© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2016

Renuar  photo: Elad Hizki
Renuar photo: Elad Hizki
Wix president Nir Zohar credit: Alan Tzatzkin Wix provides cautious 2025 guidance after strong 2024

The Israeli website building platform company reported its first-ever GAAP operating profit in 2024.

Saar Yoskovitz and Gal Shaul  / Photo: Augury Israeli industrial AI co Augury raises $75m

The new round represents an increase in valuation for Augury, which maintains its position as a ‘unicorn’ startup.

Eitan Yochananof and Eyal Ravid credit: Eyal Izhar and Tali Bogdanovsky Regulator indicts Victory, Yochananof CEOs over price fixing

The Israel Competition Authority today issued first indictments, following the food price fixing investigation.

Shekel credit: Shutterstock Vladirina 32 Shekel gains continue as Gaza talks progress

The shekel continues to trade at its strongest levels against the dollar since early 2023.

New York credit: Shutterstock Tel Aviv - New York fares stay high despite US airlines return

Ticket prices to the US will continue to cost at least $1,200 return, according to Ophir Tours, with most fares ranging between $1,500 and $2,000, or even more.

Greenfield Partners team credit: Eyal Toueg Greenfield Partners closes $400m third fund

The funds were raised from institutional investors in Israel, the US, Europe and Asia and brings the total funds under management to more than $1 billion.

Blockaid founders Ido Ben-Natan and Raz Niv credit: Liron Weissman Israeli onchain security co Blockaid raises $50m

Blockaid protects the largest companies building onchain, including Coinbase, Metamask, Stellar, Uniswap, and World App.

Air Haifa  credit: ATR Air Haifa to launch Paphos flights

New Israeli airline Air Haifa will launch a new route between Haifa and Paphos in Cyprus on April 3, 2025 with six weekly flights.

Bladeranger Deepsolar credit: PR Bladeranger divests Deepsolar to Painreform in strategic move

Deepsolar, acquired by Bladeranger in early 2023, is a sophisticated software solution designed to optimize the management of photovoltaic solar energy fields.

Traffic jam on the Ayalon Highway in Tel Aviv credit: Shutterstock Tender issued for operating Tel Aviv congestion charge

Minister of Transport Miri Regev has dropped her opposition to the project, reportedly in exchange for financing railways to Kiryat Shmona and Eilat.

Ilya Sutskever credit: Cadya Levy Ilya Sutskever's SSI raising money at $30b valuation - report

The AI startup founded last year by OpenAI founder and former chief scientist Ilya Sutskever, is in talks to raise money at a company valuation of over $30 billion, "Bloomberg" reports.

Dina Ben Tal Ganancia  credit: Guy Kushi & Yariv Fein El Al stock still rising despite return of foreign airlines

The Israeli carrier's share price has risen 35% since the start of the year and some analysts predict further gains.

NIS 200 bills credit: Tali Bogdanovsky Reduction in cash holdings after NIS 200 bill abolishment talk

Since September 2024 there has been a dramatic decline in the number of NIS 200 bills held by the public relative to the number of NIS 100 bills, according to Bank of Israel data.

Teva CEO Richard Francis credit: Elad Malka Teva CEO responds to 25% share price fall

Richard Francis said that the question is no longer whether Teva will survive but whether it can grow more.

Holon employment bureau credit: Eyal Izhar Unemployment in Israel fell in January

The unemployment rate in Israel fell to 2.6% in January 2025, after seasonal adjustment, from 2.7% in December 2024, the Central Bureau of Statistics reports.

Dizengoff Center credit: Guy Hamoy Israel's economy grew 1% in 2024, above expectations

This figure reflects negative GDP per capita growth of 0.3%, because of population growth last year, the Central Bureau of Statistics reports.

Twitter Facebook Linkedin RSS Newsletters גלובס Israel Business Conference 2018