Incline Equity Partners announced today that its portfolio company, Revolution Dancewear (“Revolution”), has acquired Dance Direct, a Melksham-UK based online retailer of dancewear and dance apparel. This is the first add-on acquisition for Revolution since Incline Equity Partner’s initial investment in July 2010.
Dance Direct was founded in 1999 as a catalog business by two former professional dancers, Cedric and Joy Grosjean, and has since grown to become one of the largest e-commerce providers of dance apparel in the UK, France, and Germany. The company sells ballet clothing, dancewear, and footwear to dance instructors and consumers, offering several leading dancewear brands and over 11,000 product SKUs.
“The acquisition of Dance Direct is transformational for Revolution Dancewear,” said Jack Glover, partner of Incline Equity Partners and Revolution director. “There are numerous cross-sell opportunities available to the combined business including introducing Revolution’s dance recital costumes to the European market.”
“We are excited about the opportunity to expand Revolution into Europe by leveraging Dance Direct’s connection to dancers and dance instructors,” said Leon Rubinov, principal of Incline Equity Partners and Revolution director.
Chicago, IL-based Revolution Dancewear is a leading designer and marketer of dancewear, including bodywear, footwear, and recital costumes sold under the Revolution Dancewear brand. Revolution, which was founded in 1996, sells product through dance schools and studios across the U.S. and Canada.
“This is a highly synergistic acquisition and we look forward to serving new dancewear customers with the same level of exceptional customer service, convenience, and product quality that has become the hallmark of Revolution,” said Robb Lippitt, CEO of Revolution Dancewear. “The team at Incline Equity Partners has been instrumental in supporting our company’s growth initiatives with their superior mid-market management, operations, and transaction expertise.”
About Incline Equity Partners
Incline Equity Partners, headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is a private equity firm focused on making investments in lower middle-market growth companies, focusing on companies with enterprise values of $30MM to $125MM across a variety of industry sectors including value-added distribution, specialized light manufacturing and business and industrial services. Typical investment types are management buyouts, ownership transitions for privately held businesses and corporate divestitures. Incline Equity Partners has experience with investing, mergers and acquisitions, leveraged finance, leveraged buyouts and growth capital.
Disclaimer
Incline Management Corporation (“IMC”) is registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission as an investment adviser under the U.S. Investment Advisers Act of 1940, as amended. Registration as an investment adviser does not imply a certain level of skill or training. IMC provides investment advisory services only to privately offered funds. IMC does not solicit or make its services available to the public or other advisory clients. This press release is intended solely to provide information regarding Incline’s potential capabilities for prospective portfolio companies, and is not an offer to sell to any person, or a solicitation from any person of an offer to buy, any securities. The statements contained herein are not statements of any IMC client fund or investor and do not describe any experience with or endorsement of IMC as an investment adviser by any such client or investor.