Feelunique.com has appointed former Lovefilm finance boss Jim Buckle prompting rumours of a sale of the businesses.
Buckle is the latest senior hire following the appointment of chief executive Joel Palix from Clarins in January. Buckle most recently worked at private equity-backed Wiggle, which has long been linked with a possible IPO.
Crucially, he was chief financial officer at Lovefilm for five years before it was sold to Amazon and subsequently became managing director. He joined Wiggle a year ago.
The executive has also worked for a number of other firms where he has played a key role in raising funds and mapping out strategic options. Those include working as an adviser to management at travel firm My Destination and at car booking service Safer Taxi.
Buckle is expected to join the firm next Tuesday, May 6, according to Fashion Monitor.
Wiggle attracted attention in March when it revealed plans for a stock market float in a job advert placed in the Financial Times.
The online cycling retailer placed an advert in the newspaper for a chief financial officer - evidently to replace Buckle - which stated that 'IPO experience would be an advantage'. Wiggle is currently owned by private equity firm Bridgepoint and the advert was placed by retail headhunter MBS Group.
Bridgepoint told Financial News at the time: 'We would naturally look for IPO experience in our CFO in order to keep our options open about the potential capital structure of the business in future. However, the board has made no decision about this nor has it appointed any advisers on the subject.'
It is understood that no advisers had been appointed but that a sale or float could be considered next year. Wiggle previously considered an IPO in 2011 but was instead sold by Isis Equity Partners to Bridgepoint for £180 million.
No comments:
Post a Comment