Bernard Mariette and his fund lead purchase of majority stake in Coalision

By

Bruno Joly

Published
Apr 24, 2014

In 2009, the former CEO of Quicksilver took the reins of Coalision, the Canadian company known for its active women’s brand Lolë and its free ski brand Orage. Two years later, his fund Pelican acquired a 21% share. In a press release, Mariette announced today that Pelican had purchased a majority stake in Coalision along with a group of "strategic" partners, including Simon Equity Group, members of the Hermès family and the labor-sponsored Fonds de solidarité FTQ.

Kilmer, the fund that acquired a controlling interest in 2008, as well as company founders Evelyn Trempe and Eric d' Anjou are to retain a minority stake to the order of about 30%.

Coalision originally intended to capitalize on several brands, embarking upon the purchase of Pull-Inn, later to be abandoned. Since then, however, it has sold Orage and instead put its energy into Lolë, the women’s yoga and well-being brand, which has a men’s division in the works.

The company, which should realize a turnover of hundreds of millions of Canadian dollars, aims to triple that figure in the mid term. Recent seasons have been devoted to strengthening collections, developing a store concept and organizing the Yoga White Tour, a special event that brings together thousands of people in iconic places like Paris’ Grand Palais.