Next acquires a 44% stake in JoJo Maman Bebe, continues third party brand expansion

The maternity clothing and babywear retailer JoJo Maman Bebe—whose high-profile clientele includes the Duchess of Cambridge—has been purchased by British retail giant Next and a group of investment firms.

Next has acquired a 44% stake in the firm, with the other 56% picked up by investment companies advised or managed by the hedge fund Davidson Kempner Capital Management. The shares were purchased from existing JoJo shareholders, including Laura Tenison, the founder of JoJo Maman Bebe.

Laura Tenison, who founded JoJo Maman Bebe in 1993 from her flatshare kitchen table and transformed it into one of the UK’s leading baby and mother retailers, said the new owners, Next and others, had exciting plans to grow and expand the brand much faster than they ever could and provided JoJo the opportunity to open in new markets.

However, Laura Tenison will leave the business altogether as part of the agreement.

In addition to its website, JoJo Maman Bebe operates 87 retail outlets and employs over 950 people in the UK.

The move follows Next’s deal to secure stakes in the UK arm of Victoria’s Secret and Reiss and secure a franchise deal to GAP via concession in the UK.

Lord Simon Wolfson, the CEO of Next, said he was excited to see what could be achieved by combining JoJo’s exceptional product with Next’s retail infrastructure and Davidson Kempner as their investment partner.