YYX Capital agrees acquisition of Mahabis

YYX Capital, the investment boutique co-headed by Simba Sleep founder James Cox, has completed the acquisition of the assets of Mahabis Ltd, taking the upmarket leisure footwear business out of administration.

The acquisition, agreed with administrators KRE Corporate Recovery, means that all Mahabis' staff will be retained, supplier relationships will be maintained and the business will be able to continue to grow globally.

James Cox will become interim CEO and YYX Capital will not only invest in developing the Mahabis brand, but lend its expertise in e-commerce, marketing, communications and on-line and off-line retail channels to build the business into a truly global premium lifestyle brand.

"Ankur Shah and his team have built a great business in Mahabis which unfortunately just stumbled at a critical point," said James Cox. "It has an established brand name and good customer recognition having already sold nearly a million pairs of its iconic design footwear in over 100 countries in just over 4 years.  

"Mahabis has never raised any external capital, so with the right backing, we believe we can further grow Mahabis globally, and at speed. Its high margin product category with a large addressable market, both online and offline, and presents exactly the kind of value YYX are looking for."

Cox added: "In 2016/17 the company achieved around £25m in sales and made about £2.5m EBITDA. Using the full force of the YYX team, including the addition of a well-recognised Creative Director, with a strong track record in the sector to further curate the product range, it is our aim to quickly take Mahabis back to these levels and beyond. By improving the sales mix and gross margin we want to build a £100m business, with at least 15% EBITDA, within five years. YYX Capital will use the team's expertise that helped develop the likes of Simba, Zoopla, Just Eat, Match.com and others to realise Mahabis' global potential."

In what was a testament to the strength of the business this was a highly competitive process, KRE Corporate Recovery received over 70 expressions of interest in buying Mahabis, which had voluntarily entered administration on 27 December 2018. Paul Ellison, Partner of KRE Corporate Recovery, said: "Once the Administration process started Ankur Shah and his team worked tirelessly to achieve the best possible outcome for creditors which I firmly believe has been achieved. James Cox and YYX Capital showed a real understanding of the business and had a very clear strategy on how to grow Mahabis while retaining its core team and unique corporate culture."

Ankur Shah, founder of Mahabis said "We achieved an enormous amount in a very short space of time. Whilst the decision to go in to administration was a difficult one, this was a great outcome for both employees and suppliers. Whilst I now plan to pursue other projects, I hope YYX can propel the brand in new and exciting directions."

Founded by a team of highly successful investors, digital entrepreneurs and executives in 2018. YYX Capital is special situations focused venture capital firm that invests in next generation consumer businesses. The firm is built on the partners' shared belief that deep domain knowledge and proven operating expertise at scale, combined with extensive talent and funding networks are essential to support businesses from seed to success.

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About YYX Capital

YYX Capital is a special situations focused venture capital firm that found and fund next generation Consumer Internet, eCommerce and FinTech companies. Taking calculated risks are intrinsic to a startups growth and by applying our proven playbooks - we formulate strategies to execute alongside teams as they scale. YYX Capital founders include Michael Jackson, former chairman of Sage and PartyGaming, James Cox, founder of sleep tech company Simba, former chief Marketing Officer of Zoopla from start-up to its £1.6bn IPO, Charlotte Harper, hedge fund  and family office specialist Julian Barnett and Sir John Hegarty, the advertising guru. They have previously helped to build the following companies: Simba Sleep, Treatwell, Zoopla, JustEat TransferWise, eharmony, airsorted, SuperAwesome, FundingCircle, Saatchi & Saatchi, BBH and Camden Town Brewery.