Formed last year through a partnership among Catterton, LVMH (PAR: MC) and Groupe Arnault, L Catterton is a private equity firm with a clear focus: consumer products and services. Since the start of 2008, more than 80% of the firm and its predecessors’ investments have taken place in the B2C sector, according to the PitchBook Platform.
Now, the Connecticut-based investor is back at it. L Catterton has completed a significant growth investment in “I and love and you,” a provider of premium dog and cat food in the US; and in a separate deal, the firm’s L Catterton Asia division has completed an add-on of Colombian beachwear provider Maaji to existing portfolio company Seafolly, another swimwear business. Both new targets fall into L Catterton’s preferred B2C space.
In terms of overall deal flow, the two investments are part of what’s been a busy few months of 2017 for L Catterton. The firm and its Asian affiliate have now completed nine deals so far this year, per the PitchBook Platform, on pace to blow past last year’s total of 13 and the firm’s all-time high of 20, set in 2012. More than 85% of L Catterton’s transactions since the start of 2008 have been PE deals, with a smattering of VC investments mixed in.
The firm is currently investing its eighth flagship buyout fund, L Catterton Partners VIII, an oversubscribed vehicle that closed on $2.75 billion last November. But capital for its deals with “I and love and you” and Maaji will come from different sources: the firm’s growth platform for the former and its L Catterton Asia division for the latter. The firm closed its latest growth vehicle on $615 million in 2016, while the firm then known as L Capital wrapped up its latest Asia fund with $1 billion in commitments in 2013.
PitchBook subscribers can check out additional details on L Catterton’s recent investments, management team, closed funds and more right here.
Article by Kevin Dowd, PitchBook
