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Sherry Smith: Shattering the Illusion of the ‘Either/Or’ Diamond MarketSmith offers retailers guidance on creating an environment where natural and lab-grown diamonds can both thrive.
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Two private equity firms acquire Spence Diamonds
Lion Capital has partnered with retail investor and operator Ivest Consumer Partners to purchase Canada’s Spence Diamonds, with an eye toward possible expansion.
Vancouver, Canada--Lion Capital has partnered with retail investor and operator Ivest Consumer Partners to purchase Canada’s Spence Diamonds, with an eye toward possible expansion.
Lion Capital is the main buyer, with Ivest making a minority investment in the chain.
Ivest will bring in two of its executives and partners to lead the business while Spence’s current CEO, Sean Jones, remains on the board and acquires a minority stake in the company.
Heading Spence going forward will be George Jones, who has worked at both Saks Fifth Avenue and Borders bookstores, and Jim Schneider, who has held positions at Bloomingdale’s, Warner Bros., Hermes and Nordstrom.
Though financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed, Fortune reported that the deal was valued at around $125 million.
Spence Diamonds was founded in 1978 in Vancouver and now operates with a “brass and glass” business model. The retailer has seven showrooms across Canada where most inventory on hand is cubic zirconia. Shoppers pick the ring they want from thousands of designs and then their ring is made for them in precious metal and set with a real diamond.
In 2009, Spence Diamonds entered the U.S. market by buying three stores in Houston, Texas, from Robbins Bros., only to sell two of them back to the retailer and the last to another company before exiting the market by the end of 2010.
According to the Fortune story, the plan is to expand Spence from its current seven showrooms in Canada to more than 20, as well as a possible reentry into the U.S. even though it’s a “more saturated market.”
Lion Capital, which currently has offices in London and Los Angeles, focuses investment on consumer brands in both North America and Europe, and has delved into fine jewelry before, when partner Lyndon Lea served on the board for Harry Winston.
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