San Mateo, CA, June 3, 2015 – Bertram Capital (“Bertram”) today announced the sale of One Distribution, SARL (“One Distribution”) to K-Swiss Global Brands (KSGB).    One Distribution is the parent company of leading sneaker and apparel brands, Supra Footwear (SUPRA) and KR3W Denim (KR3W).  

In the four and a half years since Bertram sponsored a management buyout of One Distribution, the company achieved organic revenue growth of over 120% and built one of the strongest direct-to-consumer operations in the industry.  Its footwear brand, SUPRA, has fused a passion for skateboarding with sneaker culture, art, and fashion to connect with more than 3.5 million followers on social media to become a much watched trend driver, and earn a spot amongst the largest independent footwear brands in operation.

“One Distribution’s success has been the product of hard work, immense creativity, and a concerted effort to reach customers in fundamentally new ways,” said Ryan Craig, Partner at Bertram.  “I want to thank Scott Bailey, One Distribution’s co-founder and CEO, as well as his management team for their efforts.  In a crowded landscape of brands, Supra and KR3W have each thrived by getting the fundamentals right — differentiated products and authentic messaging – and then allowing the brands to be discovered, not pushed. Bertram is proud to have had a hand in executing this strategy.”

Bertram Capital helped One Distribution unlock its full potential through the Bertram High-5^TM, the firm’s differentiated buy and build investment strategy.  A key element of this strategy is Bertram Labs, the firm’s in-house IT services team that provided significant software development and online/social media marketing support to One Distribution.

“It was impressive how in a such a short period of time the Supra and KR3W products grew from obscurity to globally recognized fashion brands. The early contribution by Bertram Labs to the Company’s ecommerce efforts and brand development through digital marketing demonstrates the power of our team’s ability to work effectively with management,” said Jeff Drazan, Managing Partner at Bertram.

In the Consumer sector, Bertram has developed a competitive edge at evaluating, building, and expanding a company’s direct-to-consumer capabilities primarily through innovative e-commerce and on-line marketing initiatives. One Distribution is one of four Bertram portfolio companies to conduct a substantial portion of its business online.

“Bertram Capital has been a hands-on partner to One Distribution since the beginning of their investment,” said Scott Bailey, Co-Founder of One Distribution. “Their capabilities and integrity are unique among private equity firms we know.  It’s been a pleasure working with them.” 

 

About Bertram Capital

With over $850 million in capital under management, Bertram Capital is a private equity firm targeting investments in lower middle market companies.  By supplying flexible investment capital and committing a wealth of operational and strategic resources to each investment, we make it our core objective to move companies, management teams, and employees toward unlocking their full potential.  Visit www.bcap.com for more information.

Contact:

David Hellier

Bertram Capital

(650) 358-5000

[email protected]