New Zealand-founded blank apparel distributor AS Colour has scored a new significant minority stakeholder, with the investment going towards its next phase of growth.
The investment comes from Quadrant Private Equity’s Strategic Equity Fund, which partners with high-growth companies through minority stakes. The fund has led more than $1 billion of investments across five companies: AS Colour, Canva, APM, EMM and Endgame Analytics.
Quadrant is acquiring its stake from Direct Capital, the New Zealand-based private equity firm that has backed AS Colour since 2017. Direct Capital will retain a smaller ongoing shareholding following the transaction.
This comes AS Colour passes NZ$500 million in turnover annually, with plans to scale this ahead.
“The business has built an exceptional brand in New Zealand and Australia and is now scaling rapidly in the US, UK and Europe,” Quadrant partners Louis Casey and Marcus Darville said.
“What sets AS Colour apart is the combination of premium product quality, a direct B2B sales model, a highly efficient supply chain, and - most importantly – an outstanding team and culture that is genuinely passionate about what they do. We see a significant global runway ahead.”
AS Colour CEO Clive Ormerod confirmed that New Zealand will remain the brand’s home, but noted that most of its customers are now in international markets.
“Partnering with Quadrant gives us additional strategic capability to keep strengthening our brand across Australia and New Zealand, and to accelerate our international expansion in markets such as the US, UK and Europe,” Ormerod said. “This is a strong endorsement of the team and strategy we have been executing.”
Direct Capital partner Chris Wills added that he and his team are keen to remain connected with the brand.
Founded in Auckland in 2005, AS Colour sells quality blank apparel, including tops, bottoms, innerwear, bags, hats and totes. The company now operates six distribution centres and 27 retail sites across Australia and New Zealand, the United States, the United Kingdom and Europe. The company added it is gaining share in the fast-growing premium segment of the US$12 billion global blank apparel market.
The transaction was led by Quadrant's Louis Casey and Marcus Darville. Jarden (advised by Sam Ricketts) and Gilbert & Tobin (led by Alex Kauye) acted as advisors to Quadrant. Direct Capital was advised by Allier Capital, led by Sean Slater.