Frugi is the number one brand in the UK for organic cotton clothing for 0-10 year olds. The company is situated in a unique position, blending beautiful innovative design with an ethical stance, to create fun, cherished products.
Since it was founded by Lucy & Kurt Jewson in 2004, the multi-channel clothing business has experienced significant growth in the UK and parts of Europe but has substantial potential to rapidly expand into currently untapped international markets. Driving Frugi’s growth is a focus on its e-commerce platform, an ever expanding loyal Frugi community and a wider lifestyle option mix including maternity and bedding products.
BDO identified a number of potential buyers and worked closely with the Frugi founders to ensure they achieved maximum value, as well as the right partner for the business moving forward.
The deal results in the addition of a compelling brand with significant global growth potential to True’s portfolio.
"It has been a pleasure to work with such a talented management team and True on this transaction. Frugi is a true feel-good, quintessentially British brand with undisputable demand from millennials driving parenting ideals. The brand has only really just touched the surface of its real potential and True are the perfect partners to take Frugi on the next stage of its journey”.
Laura Shaw, Corporate Finance Partner, BDO
“Laura and her team at BDO were incredible! We were absolutely daunted by the thought of going through the process and really didn’t believe Laura when she said she would make sure we had some fun and laughs along the journey. And we certainly did! Not only did Laura’s careful positioning of the strengths of the business mean that we got a brilliant result in excess of what we had dared hope, but the professionalism with how it was handled at every stage was exemplary. I couldn’t believe we could get such a professional beautiful looking IM together in the time it took and that was largely down to her incredible team taking most of the strain on our behalf.
Laura understood what was important to us and to the business, we couldn’t just be sold to the highest bidder – any purchaser had to understand our brand and it’s ethical values fully. She expertly helped us narrow options down to find the perfect match. We are extremely happy with how everything was handled and would recommend Laura and her awesome team at BDO in a heartbeat to anyone who wants to navigate this process. You’ll probably only do it once and we are so glad we did it right.”
Lucy Jewson, Founder and MD, Frugi
“We invest in businesses, teams and people who forge retail and consumer change. Frugi’s approach to product integrity, ethics, brand loyalty and digital fulfilment reflects what modern shoppers want. Frugi has great potential and we are excited for the company’s next phase of growth.”
Paul Cocker, Co-founder, True Capital