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Idle Projects Limited
Company Name:Idle Projects Limited Minimum fundraise:£0.00* High Share Price Bid:£0.00
Business Sector:Retail Total Funds Bid to Date:- Low Share Price Bid:£0.00
Auction period:06 Feb 2017 - N/A Indicative Share Price:0.00 Average Share Price Bid:£0.00**
*The company will accept oversubscription.
**In the event of significant oversubscription, shares will be allocated to bids at the average price and above.
NOTE: ASSET MATCH HAS NEGOTIATED AN “ASSET MATCH INVESTOR BONUS” FOR INVESTORS IN THIS TRANSACTION. SEE THE “OVERVIEW” SECTION BELOW FOR DETAILS.

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Idle Projects Limited

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Company info

Idle Projects Limited is seeking to raise £1,000,000 in return for 15.68% equity. 

Idle Projects Limited operates an e-commerce website that retails clothes and accessories via their trading name and website, “The Idle Man.” The Company was founded in 2013 when the founder, Oliver Tezcan wanted to create an online fashion business tailored specifically for men. Following his experience in online fashion retailing with ASOS, as Head of Men’s Brands, Oliver and The Idle Man team have created a men’s online fashion website that groups together 100+ brands.

The Idle Man uses this platform for established brands to retail some of their own products which account for 20% of the products listed on its website. The Idle Man also offers fashion advice via its blog, which is the 4th most visited menswear blog in the UK with over 1 million+ unique visits per month.

The Idle Man has positioned itself in a market segment with lower levels of competition by only offering men’s clothing in the mid-price range. By specialising in the men’s market, The Idle Man aims to provide an offering better than other online retailers – such as ASOS, Topshop – for whom the men’s market is not a priority.

The Idle Man also has a diversified customer base with 37% of total sales coming internationally. The return rate on sales is also 25% lower than the industry average. Men’s clothing is also the fastest growing e-commerce category during a 5 year period from 2010 to 2015 with average annual sales growth of 17.4%. 

Key Facts:

  • The Idle Man currently has 50,000 active customers.
  • 22% of revenue comes from paid marketing, 44% from direct and organic traffic and 22% from paid searches.
  • International sales amount to 37% of total sales.
  • 19% of orders come from repeat customers.
  • The average basket value has increased from £29.60 in 2014 to £68.70 in November 2016.
  • The Company has agreed a 30% discount in logistics starting in 2017.
  • Menswear is a high growth sector – growing at 4.5% p.a. versus 3.7% p.a. for womenswear.
  • The return rate on sales in menswear is also significantly lower than for womenswear – 15% versus a 40% industry average.

Further information can be found in the investor presentation.

 

The Company is seeking to raise a total of £1,000,000 in return for 15.68% equity in the Company - a pre-money valuation of £5.38m and a subscription price of 20.1402 pence per share. The Company has reserved the right to overfund. The total raise is EIS eligible and investors can therefore receive an effective tax relief of 30 per cent.

The minimum subscription amount is £5,000 or such other minimum subscription as the directors and Asset Match may determine from time to time.

The Company has two share classes: A Ordinary and B Ordinary shares which have identical rights. Investors will be issued A Ordinary shares that rank pari passu with the existing share capital.

Use of proceeds
The Company intends to use the funds to:

  • increase marketing spend to support a second ad campaign on Channel 4;
  • increase the budget for customer relationship management in order to gain a greater share of wallet;
  • significantly increase the buying budget to support growth;
  • strengthen the product team to aid the expansion of The Idle Man brand and label;
  • further improve technology to enable greater scale; and
  • launch international sites in the US, France and Germany.

 

 

The Board of Idle Projects are committed enhancing the value of the Company by focusing on The Idle Man growth strategy. Possible exits include trade sale, IPO and a secondary market on Asset Match.

The plans to expand into international markets presents strategic areas for growth that could see the business mature to be a profitable independent company. This could, therefore, make the Company an acquisition target.

Trade sales and acquisitions have remained strong in the past two years with Trunk Club being acquired by Nordstrom ($350m), Long Tall Sally acquired by TriStyle ($30m) and Mytheresa.com acquired by Neiman Marcus (undisclosed). A review of the consumer products and retail sector by EY revealed that large consumer goods companies are being threatened by smaller and nimbler digital companies. As a result, 71% of those surveyed said they intend to actively pursue acquisitions in the next 12 months.

There is also the possibility of an IPO. There has been a number of successful IPO's of comparable UK online fashion retail companies, ASOS.com floated in 2008 at £12m and is now worth £4.5bn. Another IPO in the sector was Boohoo.com who floated in 2014 at £560m and now has a market cap of £1.5bn.

There has also been strong interest from private equity in the fashion retail environment. Luxury fashion retailer Reiss sold a majority stake of its business to Warburg Pincus (undisclosed). Other recent Private Equity deals include: The Hut Group sold a 20% to KKR (£100m), Fatface to Bridgepoint (£360m) and Kurt Geiger to Cinven (£245m).

Nottingham Pension fund and Foresight Group currently have a sizeable holding in The Idle Man which they plan to increase in the current raise. It is feasible that these investors will seek an exit from their investment in the future.

 

 

Idle Projects Limited has submitted its application of plans to raise money and the deal structure of the fund raise to HMRC and it has been accepted. 

Tax relief is available only to individuals who subscribe for shares in an Enterprise Investment Scheme. EIS relief is at 30 per cent. of the cost of the shares. Both are to be offset against the individuals' Income Tax liability for the tax year in which the investment was made.

If you sell, give away or otherwise dispose of shares, tax reliefs can reduce your Capital Gains Tax liability. Your shares must meet certain conditions to qualify for these reliefs.

Please visit the HMRC website for further information on EIS tax relief.

The availability of any tax relief, including EIS, depends on the individual circumstances of each investor and may be subject to change in the future. If you are in any doubt about the availability of any tax reliefs, of the tax treatment of your investment, you should obtain independent tax advice before proceeding with your investment.

This summary should be read in conjunction with all documentation made available on this site. Please read the supporting documentation carefully before making any investment decision.

Instructions

You are reminded that investing in early stage and unquoted businesses involves risks, including illiquidity, lack of dividends, loss of investment and dilution, and it should only be done as part of a diversified portfolio. Asset Match is targeted exclusively at investors who are sufficiently wealthy and sophisticated to understand these risks and make their own investment decisions.

If you have registered with Asset Match as a shareholder of a company on the platform, you are reminded that you will need to certify that you are either a High Net Worth, Certified Sophisticated Investor or Self-Certified Sophisticated Investor.

Instructions:

  1. If you are interested in investing, please email us via idleman@assetmatch.com, confirming how much you are looking to invest and we will send you a completed application form to sign.

Alternatively, you can download the form and complete the relevant sections yourself. Please return the completed form along with a cheque (made payable to Idle Projects Limited) to:

Oliver Tezcan
The Idle Man
East One Studios
88-94 Wentworth Street
London
E1 7SA

T: 0207 993 5369
Company no: 08484139

If possible, please email us a copy of the form to idleman@assetmatch.com, so that we can register your investment and update this page.  If you have any queries, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Key People

Oliver

Oliver Tezcan Chief Executive Officer

Prior to launching The Idle Man in 2014, Oliver was responsible for the launch of menswear at Asos.com – a department he helped build from scratch into a £200m turnover business during his 8 years with the company. As Buying Manager for Men’s Brands, he was responsible for all 3rd party brands contributing 60% of total Menswear sales (£120m) and managing a 50-strong team.

Oliver started his career in the menswear buying dept at River Island as a Buyer’s Clerk straight out of university (University of Leeds - BA Economics and Philosophy). During his 4 years with the brand, he worked across various clothing departments so has an unparalleled knowledge of young men’s fashion.

   
Alex

Alex Outlaw Chief Marketing Officer

Alex was the first employee at The Idle Man and joined from his previous role as marketing director at luxury fashion start-up Motilo.com. At Motilo he was responsible for all facets of marketing strategy, tactics and execution, as well as product development relating to customer experience, brand attributes and core company values. 

Prior to Motilo Alex was marketing manager at both Bauer and IPC media, working across various young men’s brands including FHM and Loaded. He also brings experience from previous roles in the marketing departments of Carlsberg and Next. Alex contributes a complete understanding of the mindset of 18-34 year-old fashion-conscious men, and how to target them.

   
Simon

Simon Guild Chairman

Formerly CEO of MTV Europe, Simon is on the boards of various European companies spanning the worlds of tech, social media and e-commerce. He holds and MBA from Insead, and an MA from the University of Cambridge.

   
Cedric

Cedric Pereira Non-Executive Director

An experienced Finance Professional, Cedric was previously Finance Director at young fashion brands Jack Wills and Office shoes, so brings unrivalled know-how to The Idle Man’s Finance function. His experience and responsibilities cover Commercial Finance, Financial Control, Modelling and Finance Systems.

   
Rodney

Rodney Appiah Investor Director

Rodney is a Senior Investment Manager for our principal investor Foresight Group. He has held various board positions with portfolio companies, including men’s fashion brand Oliver Sweeney.