Investment group Mirabaud buys stake in luxury skiwear brand Fusalp

Switzerland-based investment group Mirabaud has snapped up a minority stake in French luxury skiwear label Fusalp for an undisclosed sum.

The group announced Wednesday that two of Mirabaud Asset Management’s private equity funds have taken a joint stake in the brand which specialises in performance wear for the slopes as well as après-ski outfits.

The brand, which was founded in 1952 and is based in the French Alps, was previously owned by Switzerland's MF Brands Group, formerly known as Maus Frères International.

In 2014 it was sold to siblings Sophie and Philippe Lacoste, the grandchildren of Lacoste founder René Lacoste, along with Alexandre Fauvet, a former Lacoste executive. Fauvet currently serves as the CEO of Fusalp.

Fusalp eyes US expansion

Following its latest investment, the brand plans to further expand in North America, with a boutique set to open in Aspen in November, followed by one in New York’s Madison Avenue, Sophie Lacoste told WWD.

It will bring the label’s total boutique estate to 55 by the end of the year, up from three in 2015.

Sophie Lacoste said the brand is on track to make a turnover of 40 million euros for the year ending in May, compared to the 6 million euros it generated in 2014.

Commenting on the new investment from Mirabaud, she told WWD: “We are a family-owned company, so we like to know our partners very well. We had this conversation for some time, speaking about the business, getting to know each other and now we feel that we need to really seize the moment to develop ourselves, especially in America.

“[So] we felt they could be the right partners because [we share] the same ways of seeing business, continuity and strengthen the business in the long term.”