Polaris-backed apparel supplier files for bankruptcy

Polaris paid around JPY2 billion for a 67% stake in the company in 2006, making the investment through its JPY29 billion maiden fund, which reached a final close in early 2005.

Set up in 1921, Fusen-Usagi is a wholesale retailer of baby and children's clothes. The company sells both high-end new born apparel under its own brand Celec as well as supplying brands such as Nike, Levi's and Olive des Olive. It distributes its products via major department stores and speciaity shops as well as through its own direct outlets.

The company saw sales peak at JPY29.9 billion in 1997, but intense completion coupled with the dwindling Japanese birth rate has meant sales have declined sharply, coming to just JPY 6.2 billion in 2013.

According to Teikoku Data Bank, Fusen-Usagi's restructuring efforts under Polaris included divesting real estate assets, closing unprofitable overseas operations and streamlining the corporate structure. However, sales did not recover sufficiently.

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• Topics
• North Asia
• Restructuring
• Buyout
• Japan
• Consumer
• Distress
• buyout
• Polaris Principal Finance